ISPMB

Native American and Native Horse Human-Animal Healing Center

ISPMB’s Blessing Ceremony for the Wild Horses

Overview

The Native American and Native Horse Human-Animal Healing Center will be a non-profit center designed to help heal both Native people and animals. Native American children are the young generation of a culture whose roots, identity, and language are on the edge of extinction, due to the crises of unemployment and alcoholicsm in the Native community. The Center will collaborate withour hundreds of rescued wild mustangs to provide rehabilitation and animal-assisted therapy both to the Native people and the animals themselves. All projects will be held on the President of ISPMB’s private 680-acre ranch until enough funds are raised to purchase the wild horses’ permanent ranch. Here, a green center will be built as a hub for our projects, to promote tourism, and education of the Native people, all in keeping with our motto of conservation and sustainability.

Message from the President

The Human-Animal- Nature Bond is the cultural center of many indigenous people. The loss of this connection is at the heart of many of today’s problems. Physical handicaps can often be remedied for an individual, but emotional and spiritual handicaps can lead an entire nation and culture to fail. With unemployment at 80-85% and over 50% of the population alcoholic, these are signs of an injured and dying population. There are many programs available to the general population of Americans, but there are few, if any programs available to Native Americans that assist in furthering the human-animal bond or animal assisted therapy.

There is a great sense of urgency now for us to remember our pathways of ancient times – we must create positive change. The people who hold the answers- the knowledge- are the traditional indigenous people and the great animals in which they once shared their lives so intimately. By weaving the knowledge of the aging Elders with the children, we can be assured that the key to living in harmony with all living things will survive. As the children become educated and healed, then they will open the doors for all people.

Our project is vital as noted by several of the letters of support. Mr. Charger, who is well respected and known as the “traditional healer” of the reservation, is quoted saying, “the return of the horses is the 3rd of five prophecies given to them more than 100 years ago.” Mr. Charger sees the Native American Human Animal Healing Center as an avenue to the fulfillment of the return of the Spiritual Culture and the Lakota Culture. The need to help the children is paramount as there are no human-animal bond programs on the reservation.

We know you share our passion for spreading the human-animal bond and understand how our project will help a “handicapped” world by helping the indigenous children who in turn will become leaders and teachers of tomorrow.

Their knowledge and connection not only will heal an entire generation, but it will affect thousands of other soul seekers who will visit our center and share in the cultural reconnection to the animals and nature. Jayme Longbrake, retired head of the Tribal Health Department so aptly states in his letter of support that this program targeting the children is a “matter of life and death.”

Please join us and become part of our larger shared vision to help heal not only a dying population of children by reconnecting them to their spiritual roots with animals and nature, but affect change on a much bigger global level through the interactions of children teaching others about human-animal bond through their own cultural perspectives. Thank you.

Mitakuye Oyasin (All my relatives)

Karen A. Sussman
President, ISPMB