close
close

Tribal ceremony honors birth of prophesied white bison calf • South Dakota Searchlight

Theo

HEBGEN LAKE, Mont. — The birth of a sacred white buffalo calf earlier this month in Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley fulfills a tribal prophecy, according to Native American spiritual leaders.

The prophecy means people need to take better care of Mother Earth and must come together to do so, leaders and elders told a group of about 500 people gathered Wednesday on the north shore of Hebgen Lake.

“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,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual and ceremonial leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota peoples and 19th generation custodian of the sacred white buffalo pipe and calf bundle.

Looking Horse presided over the ceremony just west of Yellowstone National Park, which encompasses sacred ancestral lands for many tribes of the western and northern plains. He unveiled a bison hide painted with a portrait of the calf, naming it Wakan Gli, which means “Sacred Return,” “The Sacred Comes Home” or “Comes the Holy,” according to tribal leaders present at the ceremony.

A photo of the new white buffalo in Yellowstone National Park taken by photographer Jordan Creech. (Copyright Jordan Creech, provided by the Buffalo Field Campaign)
A photo of the new white buffalo in Yellowstone National Park taken by photographer Jordan Creech. (Copyright Jordan Creech, provided by Buffalo Field Campaign)

Representatives from the Shoshone-Bannock, Lakota, Sioux, Northern Arapaho and Colville tribes were among those who told the crowd of tribal members, tourists and others who attended the ceremony at the headquarters Buffalo Field campaign that the birth of Wakan Gli was a worrying message that the world is in a bad place right now, but also that it would help provide guidance on how to fix things.

“Understand that our ancestors come here and when we come here, the spirits of our ancestors awaken and we introduce ourselves to the land,” said Darnell Sam, Wenatchi Salmon Chief and member of the Confederated Tribes of Colville in Washington. “…When we sing our songs, these spirits visit each other. They support each other. And that’s what we’re here for today, is to support each other in that buffalo spirit.

Long ago, Looking Horse said, there was a time when food was disappearing, bison were scarce and people were sick and hungry. The tribes were searching for buffalo near what is now known as Devil’s Tower, when the white buffalo calf woman introduced herself to two scouts.

The next day the white buffalo woman appeared again, as she had promised, and brought the sacred red stone pipe and the bundle and showed them how to pray to the creator and find food. As she set out across the hills, she first took the form of buffalo of other colors, then transformed into a white buffalo. She told the people that she would return one day as a white buffalo with a black nose, black eyes, and black hooves.

“Mother Earth is going to be sick and have a fever. And that’s what’s happening right now, as we speak. It’s a prophecy that’s been fulfilled,” Looking Horse said. “…And that’s the only way Mother Earth can speak – through these white animals.”

Looking Horse called the calf’s birth “a historic moment in our history.” About a dozen tribal members from across the region shared their versions of what the white bison and the American bison species in general mean to the tribes and their heritages, and led the ceremony with prayers and songs.

The calf’s arrival also offered an opportunity for deep reflection, speakers said, about why it appeared now and the need for people to recognize that its arrival means they will have to change their behaviors towards each other and towards nature in order to save Mother Earth.

“Look at the interactions that we have as humans, because there’s something that we’re missing,” said Devin Old Man of the Northern Arapahoe Tribe on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. “And it’s as simple as sitting under the tree, listening to the birds and watching the bees harvest the honey. Paying attention to these wild animals because they’re in their natural habitat.”

The calf remained elusive after it was first photographed in the Lamar Valley by photographer Erin Braaten of Kalispell in early June. The Buffalo Field Campaign provided photos of the calf taken by Jordan Creech.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse (center) is the 19th generation keeper of the sacred white buffalo calf bag and pack and presided over the naming ceremony and celebration on June 26, 2024, of a white buffalo born in Yellowstone National Park. (Blair Miller/Daily Montanan)
Chief Arvol Looking Horse (center) is the 19th generation keeper of the sacred pipe and bundle of the white bison and presided over the June 26, 2024 naming ceremony and celebration of a white bison born in the park Yellowstone National Park. (Blair Miller/Daily Montanan)

Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly said in an interview last week that park staff had not yet seen the cub but that “the search is ongoing.” He added that if the cub survives, he imagines it will become something of an animal celebrity, like Grizzly 399, the grizzly bear that lives in Grand Teton National Park and is followed by dozens of photographers.

“There’s probably going to be a lot of people looking for the white bison. Maybe this bison figured it out and ran off into the deep backcountry just to hang out,” Sholly said. “But I’m sure it’ll be news if we see him again.”

The last white buffalo with black eyes, nose and hooves to survive infancy was born in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1994, according to the National Park Service’s Biological Resources Division and Looking Horse.

Called “Miracle,” she was the first white buffalo born since 1933; this bison is known as “Big Medicine.” These types of white buffalo differ from albino buffalo. Another white buffalo born in Minnesota in 2012 died two weeks later.

Mike Mease, the Buffalo Field campaign coordinator, said Wednesday that holding the ceremony for the sacred white buffalo calf was “the greatest honor of my life.” He helped found the organization nearly three decades ago to help preserve the nation’s largest herd of wild bison, which Indian Country and many who work in the field call buffalo.

“From that day until today, I have had the honor of standing alongside these buffaloes, learning from these buffaloes, understanding them more than most people, to be quite honest ” said Mease. “And these buffalo teach me about unity and caring for each other.”

He explained that buffalo help each other survive the extremely cold and long winters each year and also help other animals in the ecosystem survive through months of deep snow. The lead bison splits the deepest snow, and the rest of the herd follows in single file, then allows the lead buffalo to move back to rest.

“In this lesson, we learn that bison, as a family, as a herd, share the burden of survival. They work together to make it all work. And when that trail is built out there in the deep snow, the deer use it. The elk use it. The wolves use it,” he said. “Because bison are the protectors of the land, the people and all the other animals.”

Looking Horse said that when he was chosen in 1966, at the age of 12, to be keeper of the sacred pipe and bundle, his grandmother who had preceded him in that role had a warning about the Mother Earth and the prophecy of the White Bison Woman.

“She also told people that if people don’t straighten up, then I will be the last keeper of the sacred bundle, and that will always be in my heart. »

Yellowstone National Park Statement Regarding White Bison Calf

Confirmation

  • At this time, Yellowstone National Park can confirm, based on several credible sightings, that a white bison calf was born in the Lamar Valley on June 4, 2024.
  • The bison management team at Yellowstone’s Center for Resources received numerous reports and photos of the calf taken June 4 from park visitors, professional wildlife observers, commercial guides and researchers.
  • To date, park staff have been unable to locate the calf.
  • To our knowledge, no confirmed sightings by park visitors have been reported since June 4.
  • Photos provided to park biologists indicate the calf is leucistic (black eyes and hooves with some pigmentation), rather than an albino animal.

Importance

  • The birth of a white bison was a rare natural phenomenon that occurred before the near extinction of bison in the late 19th century, when bison numbered in the tens of millions.
  • The birth of a baby white bison may reflect the presence of preserved natural genetic heritage in Yellowstone bison, which came to light through the successful recovery of a wild bison population of 3,000 to 6,000 animals.
  • The birth of a baby white bison in the wild is a landmark event in the ecocultural recovery of the bison by the National Park Service (NPS).
  • The NPS has never reported the birth of a white calf in Yellowstone National Park.
  • The birth of a white bison calf in the wild is estimated to occur in 1 in 1 million births, or even less frequently.
  • The NPS recognizes the cultural significance of a white bison to Native Americans.

Bison population

  • The bison population ranges from 3,000 to 6,000 animals, divided into two subpopulations, defined by where they congregate to breed. The northern herd breeds in the Lamar Valley and the surrounding highlands. The central herd breeds in the Hayden Valley.
  • The NPS estimates the pre-calving bison population in 2024 to be approximately 4,550 individuals. Calving occurs all at once in late spring and early summer.
  • The NPS will conduct annual post-calving counts next August.
  • Each spring, approximately 1 in 5 bison die shortly after birth due to natural disasters.
  • Learn more about bison ecology and management in Yellowstone.

Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The Daily Montanan maintains its editorial independence. Contact editor Darrell Ehrlick with questions: (email protected)Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and X.

Related Posts