A rare white buffalo calf is born in Yellowstone National Park

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. (AP) — At a gathering near a scenic lake outside Yellowstone National Park, hundreds cheered 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 this month, the white bison calf was born in Yellowstone National Park’s vast, lush Lamar Valley, where enormous bison graze by the hundreds in scenes reminiscent of the old American West.

For the many tribes who revere the American bison – which they call “buffalo” – the calf’s appearance was both the fulfillment of a sacred prophecy and a message to better care for 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 held a few miles west of Yellowstone in southernmost Montana.

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

About 500 people, including representatives from the Colville tribes in Washington state, the Lakotas and Sioux in the Dakotas, the Northern Arapahos in Wyoming and the Shoshone-Bannock in Idaho, attended the ceremonies at the headquarters of the Buffalo Field Campaign, between Hebgen Lake and the southern part of the Madison Mountain Range. The conservation group works with 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 running out and the buffalo were disappearing – a white buffalo calf woman appeared and presented a pipe and a bundle to a tribesman and said the pipe could be used to bring buffalo to the area for food.

As she left, she transformed into a young white bison. She promised to return one day, when times are hard again, in the form of a young white bison with a black nose, black eyes and black hooves.

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

White calves are unusual but not unheard of on buffalo ranches, the result of a crossbreeding between buffalo and cattle. White bison in the wild are another level of rarity, with none known in Yellowstone — the continent’s largest wildlife preserve — in recent memory, if ever.

This calf was born after a harsh winter in 2023 pushed thousands of Yellowstone bison to lower elevations. More than 1,500 of them have been killed, sent to slaughter or transferred to tribes seeking to resume stewardship of an animal their ancestors lived alongside for millennia.

Jordan Creech, a guide in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, was one of the few people to capture footage of the little white buffalo.

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, believing the timing was 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 white bison ever being born in the park. Park officials were unable to confirm the birth this month.

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.