Tribes honor birth of rare white buffalo calf in Yellowstone

Earlier this month, a white bison calf was born in the 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 — they call them “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 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 during the ceremonies a few miles west of Yellowstone in far southern Montana.

Looking Horse is the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Oyate 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.

The calf will be known as Wakan Gli, or “Sacred Return” in Lakota, he announced.

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

At most, only a handful of people were able to observe the calf shortly after its birth on June 4. Even fewer have received photos proving its existence. The calf has not been seen since.

Each week that passes without sighting adds to suspicions that the calf was the victim of predators, river currents, disease or numerous dangers for young buffalo. Regardless, it was an auspicious sign deeply rooted in Lakota legend and spiritual belief.

About 2,000 years ago – when nothing was going well, food was running out and bison were disappearing – a female white buffalo calf appeared and presented a pipe and a bundle to a member of the tribe and said the pipe could be used to bring buffalo into the area for food.

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

“It’s a very important moment in our history where 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 crossbreeding between buffalo and cattle. White bison in the wild are another level of rarity, with none known to occur in Yellowstone – the continent’s largest wildlife preserve – in recent memory, if ever.

This calf arrived after a harsh winter in 2023 drove thousands of Yellowstone buffalo to lower elevations. More than 1,500 people have been killed, sent to slaughter or transferred to tribes seeking to reclaim management of an animal their ancestors lived with for millennia.

Jordan Creech, who guides in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, was one of the few people to capture images of the little white buffalo.

Creech was guiding 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 place 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 moment incredible.

“And 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 should I just assume that I just witnessed to the very first birth of a white bison in recorded history in Yellowstone?

Yellowstone park officials have no record of a white bison being born in the park before. 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.

Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming.