Friday, October 16, 2026

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Photo: Jason Smith and Kremena Doust at their ranch on the Warm Springs Reservation on September 30, 2026. (Brian Bull / Underscore Native News)

A Native-owned horse ranch on Oregon’s Warm Springs reservation that has been struggling to recover from this summer’s wildfires is now getting ready for a challenging winter, as Brian Bull of Underscore Native News and KLCC reports.

Since early September, the Jason Smith Ranch has managed to adopt out 47 horses to new homes, but they still need donations to provide hay and grain for their remaining animals, including wild horses roaming the expanse beyond the ranch’s boundaries.

Back at the ranch, Kremena Doust drives a 4×4 to nudge a small herd of horses towards a fenced-in pen, where she has put down hay.

Her partner Jason Smith says there is also a few hundred wild horses that they have tried to feed after the Bench Fire burned up most of the grazing land.

“We’ve been out there a handful of times, we try to get out there at least once a week to put some big bales out and about in the burned areas. So there’s cattle and horses in our two districts down here that are short some feed. But we did get some rain. Hopefully, the rain might spurt like a fall greenup, y’know?”

With the penned-in horses munching away, Doust points out where the Deschutes River flows by, which provides fresh water for the herd. She also points out where many horses grab shade under trees and other growth.

“It is soothing to be here, and healing for the horses too. There are bigger trees over there. It’s all natural. That’s how it should be.”

Doust says she is getting a non-profit underway and that will be called the Wild Horse Legacy Foundation.

“Its mission is to rehabilitate and rehome wild horses, and take care of the welfare of the livestock and wild horses on the reservation land.”

The Jason Smith Ranch has also launched a new online horse auction, where they hope to adopt out 25 more of their horses.

Between that and learning how to fix old equipment, as well as using his past experience as ranch and agricultural manager for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Smith is determined to make ends meet.

“We’re surviving, you know. It’s constantly, horses eat, eat, eat. They’ll eat everything that you put in front of them, you know. So we’re struggling, but we’re making it.”

People who want to help support the Jason Smith Ranch through the winter can find them online.

Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging plans to close the archives in San Bruno, California and relocate its collections.

The facility holds historical documents, including federal Indian boarding school records.

Four Native organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund, have raised concerns about a lack of meaningful tribal consultation.

NARF executive director John Echohawk says the archives contain documents tribal nations rely on to protect their rights and hold the federal government accountable.

According to KQED, fewer than 4% of National Archives records nationwide have been digitized.

Federal officials say the closure is part of an effort to reduce costs and consolidate records.

California’s lawsuit seeks to stop the closure and prevent the transfer of the collections.

And on this day in 1844, Northern Paiute activist and author Sarah Winnemucca is believed to have been born in present-day Nevada.

Winnemucca became a leading advocate for Native American rights, speaking out against the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples.

In 1883, she published “Life Among the Paiutes: Their Wrongs and Claims”, one of the earliest books written by a Native American woman.

 

Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.

Download our NV1 Android or iOs App for breaking news alerts.

Check out today’s Native America Calling episode

Friday, October 16, 2026 — The ongoing struggle to protect wild horses