Makwa | Black Bear in Ojibwe
Celebrated Equine Photographer and champion for wild horses Sandy Sharkey recently photographed the four beautiful rare and endangered Ojibwe Spirit Horses, brought to the National Capital Region by Indigenous Experiences. Prints of Sandy's Ojibwe Spirit Horse photos stretched on canvas are available for purchase several sizes with 100% of proceeds supporting the care of these four new horses, along with education and preservation efforts.
There are fewer than 200 Ojibwe Spirit Horses in the world. These horses are thought to be the only existing breed of horse developed by Indigenous people of Canada. Once living wild and free in the boreal forest of Northern Ontario, local indigenous communities called them 'the small horses of the big woods', and considered them as spirit animals.
With growing development by mankind into their wild spaces, stakeholders captured the spirit horses and sold them for slaughter. By 1977, only four wild mares remained. What happened next resembles a scene from a thriller film: the wild mares were rescued by five men from Lac La Croix and Bois Forte, who trailered them across a frozen lake to a private property in Minnesota. Here, a captive breeding program was created, and continues today under the Ojibwe Horse Society.