A rider at the Professional Indian Horse Racing Association event. Photo from Facebook

The Muckleshoot Tribe of Washington hosted the season opener for the Professional Indian Horse Racing Association last weekend.

Teams from several tribes competed at the Battle of the Horse Nations at the Emerald Downs racetrack in Auburn. The association doled out $35,000 in prize money to the top riders in the Indian relay, a tough and fast-moving sport in which participants must jump from horse to horse.

“What’s happening here today is bringing the past to the present,” Jeanette Sassoon, a director of the association, told The Seattle Times. “It’s a very, very powerful expression of the Native American culture.”

The Carlson team team from the Blackfeet Nation in Montana took home the top prize in the relay race. Omak Express from the Colville Tribes in Washington came in second.

The association's next event takes place during the Crow Native Days, hosted by the Crow Tribe of Montana, this weekend.

Get the Story:
Battle of the Horse Nations: Indian relay races speed through Emerald Downs (The Seattle Times 6/22)