Madeleine Pickens Joins the Panel Discussion at the 2010 Sovereignty Symposium
On June 2, 2010, I was invited to participate in a panel discussion called, “The Year of the Horse” at the 2010 Sovereignty Symposium in Oklahoma City, OK. I was invited as a guest of Supreme Court Justice, Steve Taylor and was pleased to speak with such esteemed colleagues. The panel was moderated by The Honorable Tom Colbert, Supreme Court Justice of Oklahoma. Other panelists included: Gregory E. Pyle, Chief of Choctaw Nation in Durant, Oklahoma, Kelly Haney from Seminole, Oklahoma, and Bryant Rickman, Chairman of the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association.
Each panelist brought insightful, unique information on horses and how significant the animal has been on their personal experiences in today’s modern age. I spoke about the need to save wild mustangs and my desire to create a sanctuary to preserve their well-being. By pointing out the historical impact the horse has had on Native American culture and existence, I solicited the support from the tribes and encouraged them to stand behind the cause. I made it clear that l will continue my efforts to ensure the mustangs carry on in their natural environment and will work to make certain they are honored and treated as the living examples of our American heritage that they truly are.
The Sovereignty Symposium was established to fill a need for a national forum on Indian law. For over twenty years, Justice Yvonne Kauger as well as many other key Justices of the Supreme Court have worked to provide a forum in which ideas concerning common legal issues can be exchanged in a scholarly, non-adversarial environment. Participants and Speakers mingle with leaders of 39 Sovereign Nations under one roof and discuss not only law, but also culture and art.
The theme of the event this year was “AS LONG AS THE GRASS GROWS AND THE RIVERS FLOW.” Special guest speaker Senator Tom Cole spoke about the significance of the Native American culture, its uniqueness, and the need to continue to encourage education about this important part of America’s history.
For nearly 20 years, Chickasaw artist, Outstanding Oklahoman, and Honored Oklahoma Capital Muralist, Mike Larsen has designed the posters and t-shirts for the Symposium. As another honor, this year, Mike incorporated the Horse in his design.
I was truly honored to be a part of such a wonderful event.
Also, for those of you who were unable to attend this event, here is a copy of my speech:
Good morning
During these challenging times it is always good to look back at the trail we have follow to get where we are and take stock of what we did along the way.
The people of the great Indian Tribes of this great Nation have given much in the name of progress; given in many ways, including the loss of much of the cultural richness and symbols that characterized the great tribes and warriors of the Indian Nation.
As many of you know, I have been deeply engaged in an attempt to preserve what I believe to be a significant part of your cultural heritage, the wild horse. For without the horse, none of the conquering, the progress, the new frontiers, would ever have happened had it not been for the magnificent creature we call the horse.
At the turn of the 20th century, there were 2 million horses roaming the plains, the west and the southwest. It staggers the mind to think that we could have gone from 2 million horses to around 30,000 in just over 100 years. But I guess we should not be too surprised, since we eliminated over 20 million buffalo from the Great Plains in a much shorter time. And in the early part of the 20th century, it was the gray wolf’s turn to face extinction.
As a society, we have placed the wild horses in a competition with other species that generate revenue and the horse has always come on the losing end. The horse lived for thousands of years in harmony with the other native creatures and all of them fared well. There is no need to create such a competition that results in dire consequences when there are hundreds of millions of acres of public land in the western states.
I say to you all here today, we could have and should have done better where these species are concerned. And now the government and some from the private sector spend millions and millions to bring back the wolf and the buffalo. But they can never be returned to their native lands and their true way of life, once the habitat has been take away and the customs changed in irreversible ways.
I ask you to join me in saving our wild horses and so in a way that restores the honor and dignity of the horse and the native peoples who first rode them on the plains, into the west and into history. Bring them back to your reservations so that your children can witness a part of the great tradition of your way of life.
Isn’t it ironic that over 22,000 wild horses now stand at private ranches in Oklahoma and Kansas and the government pays a daily stipend for them to stand there where the public cannot see them, where there is no honor or glory in their existence, until the day they pass on? Why not on the vast lands of the Indian reservation if that is the chosen course? And there are now over 14,000 standing in short term facilities, many of them owned by ranchers and other in the private sector and the government is paying them upwards of $6.00 per day per horse for their upkeep. But there is so much more you can offer to the preservation of this vital part of your history.
Bring the wild horses to your reservation and create gentling and training programs. Become certified trainers and receive money for each horse you train and adopt. If you have good public access, make your horse available to the public to come and view. I can assure you that there are thousands of people out there waiting for a place to go and see a wild horse. I hear from them on my website every day. Set up your own marketing efforts online, relying on your young people that understand technology and provide jobs for member of your tribes through your efforts to take and market the wild horses.
I know there are tribes that have been approached about supporting slaughter for our wild horses. I would say to those people, why take the quick buck today while the ranchers have the long term benefits of contracts that span years and years? And to be quite honest, slaughtering our wild horses has no dignity, yields no spiritual rewards, leaves no place in history for the magnificent creatures that gave us our freedom.
There is an opportunity for all of us to take part in saving our wild horses and in doing so, educate our youth, be part of a plan to take care of a species while it is still with us rather than watch it go extinct, and restore a way of life for your people.
Please join me in this effort and I will work with you on plans to find ways to integrate the horse back into your lives and back to the places where the roamed for hundreds of years. But we must act quickly and decisively. The BLM plans to roundup thousands of wild horses yet this year. At some point, they will dramatically alter the genetic viability of the wild horses remaining on the ranch, if that hasn’t happened already.
Let your Senator or Congressional Representative know that you want to see the wild horses continue to live in the wild and be a part of the solution where the excess wild horses are concerned.
Thank you.
