Tribes Honor Birth of Rare White Bison in Yellowstone; Named Wakan Gli

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. (AP) — At a gathering near a scenic lake outside Yellowstone National Park, hundreds of people cheered last Wednesday as a Native American leader pronounced the name revealed on a painted hide for a rare white bison born in the park earlier this month: Wakan Gli, which means “sacred return” in Lakota.

The moment marked the culmination of a Native American religious ceremony commemorating the calf’s birth, which also included dancing, drumming, singing and the story of how a mysterious woman brought a message of comfort in difficult times.

Earlier last month, the white bison calf was born in the vast, lush Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park, where enormous bison graze by the hundreds in scenes reminiscent of the Old American West.

Drummers sing a song at the end of a naming ceremony for a white bison calf at the Buffalo Field Campaign headquarters in West Yellowstone, Mont., Wednesday, June 26, 2024. The calf’s predicted birth in Yellowstone National Park fulfills a Lakota prophecy that portends better times ahead. (AP Photo/Sam Wilson)

For the many tribes that revere the American bison — they call it “buffalo” — the calf’s appearance was both the fulfillment of a sacred prophecy and a message to take better care of the Earth.

“It’s up to each and every one of you to make this happen for the future of our children. We need to come together and bring back that good energy,” Chief Arvol Looking Horse said at the ceremonies a few miles west of Yellowstone in southernmost Montana.

Looking Horse is the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Oyate people of South Dakota and the 19th keeper of the sacred pipe and bundle of the White Buffalo Woman. He describes the appearance of the white buffalo as both a blessing and a warning about the natural environment.

About 500 people, including representatives from the Colville Tribes in Washington state, the Lakota and Sioux in the Dakotas, the Northern Arapaho in Wyoming and the Shoshone-Bannock in Idaho, attended the ceremonies at the Buffalo Field Campaign headquarters, between Hebgen Lake and the southern Madison Range. The conservation group works with the tribes to protect and honor wild bison.

At best, only a handful of people were able to see the calf shortly after its birth on June 4. Even fewer were able to take photos to prove its existence. The calf has not been seen since.

Each week that went by without a sighting reinforced suspicions that the calf had fallen victim to predators, river currents, disease, or some other danger to young bison. Either way, it was an auspicious sign deeply rooted in Lakota legend and spiritual belief.

About 2,000 years ago, when things were not going well, food was scarce and the bison were disappearing, a white bison woman appeared and presented a bowl pipe and a bundle to a member of the tribe and said that the pipe could be used to bring bison into the area to feed.

As she left, she transformed into a young white buffalo. She promised to return one day, when times were hard again, as a young white buffalo with a black nose, black eyes, and black hooves.

“It’s a very important moment in our history when this white buffalo calf with the black nose, black eyes and black hooves is born,” Looking Horse said.

White calves are rare but not unheard of on bison ranches, the result of crossbreeding between bison and cattle. White bison in the wild are another level of rarity, and no white bison have been seen in Yellowstone, the continent’s largest wildlife preserve, in recent memory, if ever.

The calf was born after a harsh winter in 2023 drove thousands of Yellowstone bison to lower elevations. More than 1,500 of them were killed, slaughtered or transferred to tribes seeking to regain stewardship of an animal their ancestors lived alongside for millennia.

Jordan Creech, a guide in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, is one of the few people to have captured images of white bison.

Creech was leading a photography tour when he spotted a female bison about to give birth near the Lamar River. The bison disappeared over a hill and the group continued to a spot where grizzly bears had been spotted, Creech said.

They came back later and saw the cow with her calf, Creech said. It was clear the calf had just been born, he said, calling the timing incredible.

“I pointed out to my guests that it was oddly white, but I didn’t announce that it was a white bison, because, you know, why would I assume that I had just witnessed the first-ever white bison birth in recorded history in Yellowstone?” he said.

Yellowstone Park officials have no record of a previous white bison birth in the park. Park officials have not been able to confirm this month’s birth.

Erin Braaten, who also captured images of the white calf, searched for it in the days after its birth but was unable to find it.

“The fact is we all know he was born and it’s like a miracle to us,” Looking Horse said.

Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming.