They Sang for Horses

by Clark, Laverne Harrell

• ISBN13: 9780870814969
• ISBN10: 0870814966
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Colorado

Summary

First published in 1966 and now considered a classic, THEY SANG FOR HORSES remains the only comprehensive treatment of the profound mystical influence that the horse has exerted for more than three hundred years. In this completely redesigned and expanded edition, LaVerne Harrell Clark examines how storytellers, singers, medicine men, and painters created the animal's evolving symbolic significance by adapting existing folklore and cultural symbols. Exploring the horse's importance in ceremonies, songs, prayers, customs, and beliefs, she investigates the period of the horse's most pronounced cultural impact on the Navajo and the Apache, starting from the time of its acquisition from the Spanish in the seventeenth century and continuing to the mid-1960s, when the pickup truck began to replace it as the favoured means of transportation. In addition, she presents a look at how Navajos and Apaches today continue to redefine the horse's important role in their spiritual as well as material lives.

Author Biography

LaVerne Harrell Clark is a writer, photographer, and lecturer of Southwestern folklore and mythology, and was the founding director of the University of Arizona Poetry Center. She is the author of six books

Table of Contents

Illustrations	ix
Prologue	xiii
The acquisition of the Horse	1	(14)
The Horse of the Gods	15	(42)
The Gift of the Gods	57	(57)
The Magic and Ritual of the Raid for Horses	114	(50)
The People's Ways for Keeping Horses Holy	164	(57)
The Horse's Power Over the People's Health	221	(30)
The Horse's Role in Folk Customs and Other Ceremonies	251	(27)
Epilogue	278	(40)
Bibliography	318	(13)
Index	331