Dr. Yvette Running Horse Collin
received her doctorate in Indigenous Studies from UAF in May 2017. She is of Lakota, Nakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Mayan descent on her mother's side, and Cherokee, Choctaw and Scottish descent on her father's side. Dr. Collin acknowledges the Native Elders, equine preservationists, and the ancient-line horses she caretakes as having helped to provide the “indigenous education” she received during her decade of pre-research. She credits her Doctorate Committee, professors, and UAF staff for providing the culturally respectful educational environment and curriculum that she needed to successfully conduct the Western academic portion of her research.
Her experience merging these two distinctly different educational approaches solidified her belief that combining Indigenous traditional knowledge systems with the best of Western academic scholarship is the key to creating an inclusive and sustainable educational model. This approach will result in more accurate scholarship that is free of Eurocentric bias, and it offers a path to true compassion and wisdom. Such a system has the power to ensure a healthy future for the next seven generations.
This bifurcated approach led to the creation of her dissertation titled:
The Relationship Between the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and the Horse: Deconstructing a Eurocentric Myth
. In this work, Dr. Collin deconstructed Western academia’s version of the history of the horse in the Americas, and reconstructed it to include:
cross-cultural translation, the TK of many Indigenous Peoples, Western scientific evidence that did not support the dominant cultural claim, and historical records.
This dissertation proves that data from the latest Western technology combined with information from our Indigenous Peoples has the power to reconstruct more accurate and unbiased histories.
Today, Dr. Collin and her family manage Sacred Way Sanctuary (SWS), a research and educational facility located in Florence, Alabama that focuses on the following: preserving the Ancient Horse of the Americas; sponsoring cutting-edge Western scientific research; providing top-quality education on local Native heritage; offering a foundation for youth/elder traditional knowledge exchange; and creating an indigenous learning experience for those who visit. Sacred Way Sanctuary is an official interpretive center for the Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area and the National Park Service. Dr. Collin is also a founding member of the Native American Horse Trail, which links like-minded horse preserves across the United States to present a more accurate history of the horse in the Americas, as well as introduce the public to Americas ancient horses.
Dr. Collin is currently the Executive Director of Sacred Healing Circle, a non-profit organization that focuses on healing Native individuals and communities. In this capacity, she works closely with Native Elders and Youth for the preservation and protection of traditional knowledge systems, sacred sites, and ceremonial and spiritual ways of knowing. She also proudly serves as part of the Administrative Team for the Black Hills Sioux Nation Council of Elders, which is centered on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. All of her present work is focused on correcting inaccurate portrayals of Native Peoples, freeing sacred sites from the prisons in which they are currently held (due to improper “management” by the dominant Western culture), and helping Indigenous Elders to safely transmit their traditional knowledge to youth who are prepared to receive it.
Dr. Running Horse Collin is an award-winning journalist, and has held various executive positions at non-profit institutions around the United States. She has advised state, federal and Fortune 100 organizations on Native American policy. She lectures extensively throughout the United States and internationally on her people’s traditions and the history surrounding the horse. Dr. Running Horse Collin has presented at conferences such as: The World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WIPCE), the Canadian Indigenous/Native Studies Association (CINSA), the Alaska Native Studies Conference, and Standing Rock Sioux Nation’s Prophecy of the Grandfather’s Conference, as well as for American Indian-themed forums hosted by private organizations, educational institutions, and state and federal governments. She practices the traditional ways of her Ancestors and is a wife, mother, and grandmother.
The Relationship Between the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and the Horse: Deconstructing a Eurocentric Myth
