Spring 2026

In May, Patricia Qualls Contemporary Art Gallery will host a photo exhibition of these beauties by Canadian wildlife photographer Marni Grossman titled, “Free and Wild: Horses of the Numu” (“numu” means “the people” in the Paiute language). The exhibit will assist a new nonprofit, the Indigenous Wild Horse Society, to help fight the plan to uproot the herd.“They’ve always lived here as long as we can remember,” says Rana Saulque, vice chair of the Benton Paiute Tribe, located in proximity to the horses. “We have a lot of oral history and stories about how our peo- ple used them and maintained them. They were part of the family, part of our everyday life. We see them as our ancestors.” Mono Lake Tribal Representative and Cultural Monitor Ronda Kauk agrees, “I see them, and my family and my children see them, as a connection to the land and our home and the spirit—and the sacred world 110 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 6 Although the horses are adept at finding water sources, tribal leaders say part of their management plan would include having water available for the horses without them having to be endangered by crossing a highway to access it.