LAME DEER, Montana — Northern Cheyenne Horseman Phillip Whiteman Jr. appears in the April issue of Cowboys & Indians Magazine.
Whiteman has developed a unique approach to equine management which he calls the Medicine Wheel Model to Natural Horsemanship, a holistic wellness model that works with the spirit of horse and human to interpret the true language of the horse.
“The Medicine Wheel uses a mirror concept: What you put out comes back. What we do affects those around us; awareness of this leads to better communication and understanding. The Medicine Wheel is the original map of life and helps us reconnect with ourselves -- mind, heart, and body,” Whiteman teaches.
Whiteman in partnership with his wife, Lynette Two Bulls, Oglala Lakota, has now developed a Medicine Wheel Model Certification program. The couple conducted their first Medicine Wheel Model Level I Certification Training in October of 2010 in Rapid City with twenty participants.
“The MWM is not just about communicating with horses; it’s a holistic wellness model that works with the mind, body and spirit of people and it connects the spirit of horse and human,” Two Bulls said.
The couple was able to trademark and copyright their Medicine Wheel concept of Natural Horsemanship through a Cultural Capital and Artist in Business Leadership First Peoples Fund grant. The fund also enabled them to produce a DVD of their teaching model titled “The Medicine Wheel Model” which promotes the understanding of “how we are all connected and part of the circle of life.”
“First Peoples helped me be able to maintain this indigenous teaching and now reinterpret it and reintroduce it in a way that is nonthreatening to not only horse people but to people of all colors and ages,” Whiteman tells Cowboys & Indians writer Dawn Faught.”They helped me look at this as a business person and not just as an artist and exposed me to more opportunities.”
The First Peoples Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization, is operated through contributions from national foundations such as the Ford Foundation, Archibald Bush Foundation, McKnight Foundation, and Open Society Foundations, along with community foundations and donors.
Whiteman whose Indian name is “Yellow Bird” is a member of the Northern Cheyenne of Lame Deer, Montana and is a Nationally Renowned Horseman, Cultural Consultant, Performing Artist and International Presenter. He is a member of the Northern Cheyenne Chief Council of forty four. He is also a champion grass dancer, known for dancing the”old style” of grass dancing has traveled throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe performing and sharing his knowledge and talents with people of all ages and from all walks of life.
He self produced an award winning CD “Spirit Seeker” which includes traditional stories and songs which he performed at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton and on Broadway in New York City.
He was inducted into the All Indian Hall of Fame. In addition to being profiled in the April 2011 issue of Cowboys & Indians Magazine as a First Peoples Fund Fellow he has also been featured in the Western Horseman Magazine numerous times.
Most notably, Whiteman opened the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington Kentucky that was aired on NBC network with a viewing audience of 46 million; he was a keynote speaker for the EGEA International Horse Conference, and was a guest for a second time on the 2010 PRCA NFR talk show “Outside the Barrel” with Flint Rassmussen in Las Vegas Nevada which aired on ESPN network.
Whiteman is not only an accomplished horseman and artist he also continues to give back to his community by being involved in many youth activities. He is the President of Yellow Bird, Inc. a nonprofit dedicated to empowering native youth. Whiteman is also the founder of the Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual 400 Run, which helps Northern Cheyenne youth address the issues of historical trauma.
Whiteman credits his parents; the late Phillip Whiteman Sr., and his mother, the late Florence Bites-Whiteman, a “Warrior Woman” of the Elk Scraper Society for his many accomplishments.
“Since the horse is a right brain circular thinker, it sees and understands things in its silent language. Native people are right brain circular thinkers as well. As a society we have lost that connection, the Medicine Wheel Model certification program will help reconnect and remind us. This workshop will address ways in which the horse can be a tool to heal our youth, families and communities and help create balance where there is unbalance,” Whiteman said.
The next certification trainings will be held in Lame Deer, Montana on June 15, 16, July 12-14, August 17-19, September 14-16, and will all culminate with the 3rd Annual Healing the Sacred Child Workshop in Rapid City, in October of 2011.
Those who may be interested in implementing an Equine based therapy program that is Native American traditionally based, and people that work with children, families and horses can become certified might include Program Directors, Justice System, Tribal Council, Colleges, Social Workers, Providers, School Administrators and Counselors, Teachers, Parents, Youth, Equine Therapists, etc.
For more information on Phillip Whiteman Jr. Medicine Wheel Model you can go the their website www.medicinewheelmodel.com, email at spiritseeker@rangeweb.net or call (406) 477.8781, or www.yellowbirdinc.org
(Contact Ernestine Chasing Hawk at managingeditor@nsweekly.com)
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