Native tribes celebrate rare white buffalo calf in sacred ceremony in Yellowstone

Until now, there has never been a record of a white buffalo calf born in Yellowstone National Park.

The rare white buffalo calf was first spotted earlier this month, and for some indigenous tribes, the birth was both a blessing and a warning to the world.

“I never thought this would happen in our generation,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Oyate, in an interview broadcast TODAY on June 27.

Looking Horse said the birth is considered the second coming of the white buffalo calf woman, who first appeared thousands of years ago when buffalo were scarce and people were hungry, NBC News reported. She taught the Lakota people to pray and honor the Earth, and promised to return one day as a white bison with black eyes, nose and hooves.

Indigenous groups burned sage, sang songs and danced during a ceremony honoring the calf’s birth on June 26 at the national park, according to NBC News, where the calf’s name was revealed: Wakan Gli, or Sacred Return.

“This is a warning for us to do something,” Looking Horse said on TODAY.

Looking Horse had hoped that the female White Buffalo Calf would not return during her lifetime because it would be a sign that the world needs healing, according to NBC News. When a white calf was born in Wisconsin in 1994, he said he remembered feeling fear and terror when scientists started talking about climate change.

“It brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it because it shouldn’t happen in this day and age and it did,” Looking Horse told TODAY.

Looking Horse also shared the lesson learned from the birth: “Mother Earth is sick and has a fever. And right now, it’s a spiritual awakening.”

The calf was first photographed on June 4, according to NBC News, when tour guide Jordan Creech was leading visitors through the park and came across the herd with a new arrival.

After taking the photo, Creech showed the photo to his boss, who told him it was a white buffalo.

“It’s not like an unusually white bison calf,” Creech recalled his boss telling TODAY. “It’s a white bison.”

“It seemed unreal that I was lucky enough to be one of the dozen people who received photos of this thing, and I don’t think it’s been seen since,” Creech added.

The calf is likely roaming around Yellowstone National Park, though it hasn’t been seen since early June — and may never be seen again during its trip to the area.