Aaron Stelkia

Aaron is a descendent of Chief Whistelkia and the son of Jane Stelkia.  Aaron has worked with the wild horses since he can remember.  He has spent more days of his life with the horses than away from them.  Aaron has developed his practice through traditional Indigenous knowledge transfer  while actively working with and managing the wild horses of the Okanagan Valley.   Aaron has observed both within his community and through those with whom he interacts within the greater horse training community, that there has been a loss of traditional Indigenous methods of horsemanship that focused on communication and a deep understanding between human and horse.  Indian horsemanship is fading away as the western way of living with horses and current land management and wild horse policies become the “only way.” This is an important time where the horses are meeting more and more pressure to be removed with some reservations deciding that the horses no longer have a place with them.    Aaron has also observed that many western methods of control and pressure have crept into training methods used by Indians who were separated from their cultural teachings.   In 2014 Aaron’s son died in an accident, and with him the last of the line of Stelkia Indian horsemen meant to carry on the work.    Stelkia Ranch is a tool Aaron uses to find partnerships for these horses to create more connections between these horses and horse people so they can understand why this wild lifestyle is important to protect.