TRAVOIS RACING
HOW A PIEGAN WARRIOR FOUND THE FIRST HORSE
For thousands of years, Native Americans traveled on foot. Until the introduction of the horse a few hundred years ago, the only animal used as a beast of burden was the dog. Dogs were bred from wolf stock and were found with every tribe by the time white men arrived. Since Native Americans did not have the wheel, their dogs dragged a triangular wooden framework called a travois, which carried loads up to one hundred pounds.
It is interesting to note that it is believed the horse originated on the North American Continent. Thousands of years ago, the ancestors of the horse disappeared from North and South America, leaving no survivors. The horse was reintroduced to North America by the Spanish during their conquest of what is now Mexico and the southwestern United States. When the Indians acquired this large or magic dog, they were able to make the adaptations necessary to allow drastic changes in their lifestyle. Hunting methods changed from operations on foot to ones of great skill and excitement. The ability to move large loads over long distances using bigger travois allowed the Indians more mobility than they had ever known.
The Plains Indians lived with constant exposure to the elements, to hunger and to attacks by enemy tribes. When these nomadic peoples moved their camp site, the men rode on the outside or ahead of the group ready to defend their families against any threat of attack and to look for game along the way. The women took down the tipi and packed their possessions on the horses and travois; small children rode with their mothers in a cradleboard or sometimes the cradleboards were tied firmly to the travois, older children often rode their own horses.
Rules and Regulations
The Race is usually run in two heats. The object is to complete all stages of the course in the minimum amount of time.
Start Point: A five person team at the start line with all equipment on the ground in front of them. Leaders are not with the team. At the whistle, assemble the travois as per the diagram with seven distinct lashings. Off you go with one person riding the travois.
First Check Point: Disassemble the travois and assemble a three-spar flagpole as per the diagram. The scarf or flag is to be tied at the top and the flagpole must be placed in a hole and be freestanding for 10 seconds. Reassemble the travois, fill in the hole gather up all equipment and off you go.
Second Check Point: Disassemble the travois and assemble a stretcher using the three jackets and the two long poles. Rider must be wearing a large arm sling. The stretcher with rider is carried by two persons while the other two bring the remaining equipment
Third Check Point: Rebuild the travois. The rider removes the sling, hops on. Off to the finish line...
Finish Line: Points are awarded for order of arrival. The first fifteen (15) teams of each heat will have their spars and ropes measured at the finish.
Diagram Right: Letters A through K indicate lashing points on the travois
(Note: Lashings H & I must be tied with separate ropes. The same is true for J & K)Equipment Check List:
- 2 Spars minimum 9-1/2 feet by 1-1/2 inches (290 cm x 3.8 cm)
- 2 Spars minimum 4 feet by 1-1/2 inches (102cm x 3.8cm)
- 1 Spar minimum 30 inches by 1-1/2 inches (77cm x 3.8cm)
- 1 Shovel
- 3 Jackets (for your stretcher)
- 1 Triangular Bandage
- 7 Ropes minimum 10 feet by 1/4 inch (305cm x 1 cm)
- 5 Persons per Team. 4 pushers or pullers, 1 riderTips:
- Set up a team lead who gives the orders and double checks the knots
- Use double lashing, not a clove hitch to tie the knots quickly but give strength
- The top pole (B-C) could be longer to get more pulling support
- Notch the wood poles where they overlap so they stay put.
- the bottom two lashes (F & G) are the most important as they hold the rider's weight
- Use a lot of space between the overlapping flagpole poles (H, I, and J, K)
- Make a travois kit and store it for the season
- Practice, practice, practiceHOW A PIEGAN WARRIOR FOUND THE FIRST HORSE (http://paganism.com/ag/lpp/sioux.html)
Along time ago a warrior of the Piegan Blackfoot dreamed about a lake far away where some large animals lived. A voice in the dream told him the animals were harmless, and that he could use them for dragging travois and carrying packs in the same way the Indians then used dogs. "Go to this lake," the dream voice told him, "and take a rope with you so that you can catch these animals."
When the Piegan awoke he took a long rope made from strips of a bull buffalo's hide and traveled many miles on foot to the shore of the lake. He dug a hole in the sandy beach and concealed himself there. While he watched, he saw many animals come down to the lake to drink. Deer, coyotes, elk and buffalo all came to quench their thirsts.
After a while the wind began to blow. Waves rose upon the lake and began to roll and hiss along the beach. At last a herd of large animals, unlike any the Piegan had ever seen before, suddenly appeared before him. They were as large as elks, and had small ears and long tails hanging to the ground. Some were white, and some black, and some red and spotted. The young ones were smaller. When they reached the water's edge and bent their heads to drink, the voice the man had heard in his dream whispered to him: "Throw your rope and catch one."
And so the Piegan threw his rope and caught one of the largest of the animals. It struggled and pulled and dragged the man about, and he was not strong enough to hold the animal. Finally it pulled the rope out of his hands, and the whole herd ran into the lake and sank out of sight beneath the water.
Feeling very sad, the Piegan returned to camp. He went into his lodge and prayed for help to the voice he had heard in his dream. The voice answered him: "Four times you may try to catch these animals. If in four times trying you do not catch them, you will never see them again."
Before he went to sleep that night the Piegan asked Old Man to help him, and while he slept Old Man told him that he was not strong enough to catch one of the big animals. "Try to catch one of the young animals," Old Man said, "and then you can hold it."
Next morning the Piegan went again to the shores of the big lake, and again he dug a hole in the sand and lay hidden there while the deer, the coyotes, the elk and the buffalo came to drink. At last the wind began to rise and the waves rolled and hissed upon the beach. Then came the herd of strange animals to drink at the lake, and again the man threw his rope. This time he caught one of the young animals and was able to hold it.
One by one he caught all the young animals out of the herd and led them back to the Piegan camp. After they had been there a little while, the mares--the mothers of these colts--came trotting into the camp. Their udders were filled with milk for the colts to drink. Soon after the mares came, the stallions of the herd followed them into the camp.
At first the Piegans were afraid of these new animals and would not go near them, but the warrior who had caught them told everybody that they would not harm them. After a while the animals became so tame that they followed the people whenever they moved their camp from place to place. Then the Piegans began to put packs on them, and they called this animal po-no-kah-mita, or elk dog, because they were big and shaped like an elk and could carry a pack like a dog.
That is how the Piegan Blackfoot got their horses.
This material can be used to fulfill partial requirements for the Aboriginal Awareness Badge
April 25, 2005
