TY @WesternWatershedsProject for sharing this! I had the honor of interviewing #ChiefArvolLookingHorse back in the 1990s after Miracle, the first White Buffalo Calf, was born. We are indeed at the crossroads!
#NativeAmericans see omen in Yellowstone's rare white bison
The white bison calf
by Max Matza and Madeline Halpert
BBC News
13 June 2024
"An incredibly rare white bison calf has been photographed in #YellowstoneNationalPark, exciting Native American tribes who view it as a religious sign heralding #MajorChange.
"It was spotted in the Lamar Valley area, and is the first white bison to be born in the last #WildHerd in the US, according to modern records.
"Other recent white bison births have happened in captivity and from parents that contained cow DNA. Tribes consider a wild birth more religiously significant.
"Montana photographer Erin Braaten took photos of the young buffalo in the Lamar Valley on 4 June while visiting the park with three of her eight children.
"Stuck in traffic caused by a slow-moving herd, she noticed the young calf across a river, nearly 100 metres (330ft) away, and initially mistook it for a coyote because of its sandy light colour.
"'There were so many different thoughts and emotions,' Braaten told the BBC.
"'It was so amazing. I thought I'd have a better chance of capturing Bigfoot than a white bison calf.'
"The birth of a white buffalo is a sacred event for many Native tribes of the #GreatPlains, including the #Lakota people, who believe that it relates to a time around 2,000 years ago when food was scarce and the bison were rarely seen.
"The Lakota legend tells of a beautiful woman who appeared and delivered the gifts of a #SacredPipeAndBundle to the people.
"The woman told them she would return to restore harmony in a troubled world, and then rolled on the ground four times, changing colour each time before becoming a white buffalo calf.
"Her departure led the bison to return, and white buffalos are now seen as a sign that prayers are being heard and that change is coming.
"The white buffalo woman is considered the central prophet in the theology of many tribes including the #Sioux, #Cherokee, #Comanche and #Navajo.
"Her story is often likened to that of Jesus in Christianity.
"Simon Moya-Smith, an #OglalaLakota writer who was also raised on the white buffalo woman's story, told the BBC that tradition says the arrival of a white calf is seen as both a 'blessing and a warning'."
