Crow and Paint

(American Crow and Paint Horse)

Like the Raven in the mythology of the NW tribes, the Crow plays a powerful role in the stories of the Lakota tribes of America’s great plains. Foremost, it’s known for its wisdom.

This past summer on daily walks to the dog park with Seamus, we’d pass pastures on the Running Y with two “Paints,” beautiful white and brown spotted horses. One was stand-offish, the other predictably curious. I wondered what Seamus thought of these “big dogs.”

To the Lakota the horse meant more than transportation. Horses were considered relatives—through some sort of mystical blood connection. To the Lakota, the horse represented a passion and an appetite for freedom. I imagined one watched over by a crow, guided by its wisdom.

Wisdom guiding a passion for freedom—an appropriate ethos from which we might all benefit now more than ever.