Could you tell me about White Buffalo?

Question

I would like to know the story of White Buffalo and why it died. You can be as detailed as you want.

Answer 1

white buffalo are very rare and considered a sacred sign to the native americans. Called a ghost buffalo.

After native americans were forced onto reservations there was a movement which believed a ghost buffalo would appear and they would be restored to their lands.

Answer 2

White buffaloes are exactly like normal buffaloes except that they have a genetic disorder(albinoism), being completely white. It is a very rare occurrence in man and beasts, and the animals usually die very young as they are without their species normal colorations and camoflage, allowing the predators to more easily spot them and kill them.

White buffaloes, due to their rarity, were(are) revered by many indian tribes as a great omen.

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Answer 3

The Story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman

As told by Joseph Chasing Horse

Traditional Leader of the Lakota Nation

We the Lakota people have a prophecy about the white buffalo calf, and how that prophesy originated was that we have a sacred bundle, a sacred peace pipe, that was brought to us about 2,000 years ago by what we know as the White Buffalo Calf Woman.

The story goes that she appeared to two warriors at that time. These two warriors were out hunting buffalo, hunting for food in the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota, and they saw a big body coming toward them. And they saw that it was a white buffalo calf. As it came closer to them, it turned into a beautiful young Indian girl.

At that time one of the warriors thought bad in his mind, and so the young girl told him to step forward. And when he did step forward, a black cloud came over his body, and when the black cloud disappeared, the warrior who had bad thoughts was left with no flesh or blood on his bones. The other warrior kneeled and began to pray. And when he prayed, the white buffalo calf who was now an Indian girl told him to go back to his people and warn them that in four days she was going to bring a sacred bundle.

So the warrior did as he was told. He went back to his people and he gathered all the elders and all the leaders and all the people in a circle and told them what she had instructed him to do. And sure enough, just as she said she would, on the fourth day she came. They say a cloud came down from the sky, and off of the cloud stepped the white buffalo calf. As it rolled onto the earth, the calf stood up and became this beautiful young woman who was carrying the sacred bundle in her hand.

And as she entered into the circle of the nation, she sang a sacred song and took the sacred bundle to the people who were there to take of her. She spent four days among our people and taught them about the sacred bundle, the meaning of it. And she taught them seven sacred ceremonies: one of them was the sweat lodge, or the purification ceremony. One of them was the naming ceremony, child naming. The third was the healing ceremony. The fourth one was the making of relatives or the adoption ceremony. The fifth one was the marriage ceremony. The sixth one was the vision quest. And the seventh was the sundance ceremony, the people's ceremony for all of the nation.

She brought us these seven sacred ceremonies and taught our people the songs and the traditional ways. And she instructed our people that as long as we performed these ceremonies we would always remain caretakers and guardians of sacred land. She told us that as long as we took care of it and respected it that our people would never die and would always live.

When she was done teaching all our people, she left the way she came. She went out of the circle, and as she was leaving she turned and told our people that she would return one day for the sacred bundle. And she left the sacred bundle, which we still have to this very day. And the sacred bundle is known as the White Buffalo Calf Pipe because it was brought by the White Buffalo Calf Woman. It is kept in a sacred place on the Cheyenne Indian reservation in South Dakota. it's kept by a man who is known as the keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe, and his name is Arvol Looking Horse.

And when she promised to return again, she made some prophesies at that time ....One of those prophesies was that the birth of a white buffalo calf would be a sign that it would be near the time when she would return again to purify the world. What she meant by that was that she would bring back harmony again and balance, spiritually.

As Floyd Hand tells it, a beautiful lady in a rainbow ­colored dress appeared to him in a vivid dream last May and said she soon would bring a message of peace and unity to mankind. Hand, whose Indian name is Looks for Buffalo and thousands of other people of various nations and races believe the dream became a reality with the birth of a female white buffalo on a modest farm in southern Wisconsin.

According to Lakota Sioux legend, one summer long ago a beautiful young woman appeared among the Indians at a time when there was no game and people were starving.

The woman gave the people a sacred pipe, taught them how to use it to pray and told the Sioux about the value of the buffalo. Before she left them, the woman said she would return, the legend says.

As she walked away she turned into a young white buffalo.

Hand said the return of White Buffalo Calf Woman marks the arrival of a new era of reconciliation among races and respect for the Earth. (excerpts borrowed from an article in the Chicago Tribune by Richard Wronski)

Soon after Generous Wolfs story they decided to visit the White Buffalo Calf. In preparation they harvested loads of produce from the Peace Garden to give away at the Heiders farm. Generous Wolf gathered his medicine belongings, some sacred tobacco and blue corn grown on the farm; he also placed a wooden hoop around a poster of Sitting Bull ­?.

Raven Dreamer came up for the trip, Generous Wolfs niece and daughter, Eagle Bear and River Coyote bordered the Surfer and head to the Heiders farm in Janesville.

The Heiders consist of Dave, Val and Corey who own a 45 acre farm with all kinds of animals, birds and fourteen or so Buffalo. The Heiders greeted us and welcomed the donation of food to the many people visiting from all over the world. They had decided to allow visitors only on Weekends from 12 to 5 pm to help with security and to attempt a more normal environment for the calf and the Heider family.

As they waited along the fence for the buffalo to feed, we tied tobacco prayer ties for Miracle, for peace and many other things. We then tied them to the fence along with a Great Horned Owl wing. All over the fence were gifts from Native People and other thankful people. A poem attached below a beautiful dream catcher read:

A Vision was seen many years ago Prophesying the birth of a White Buffalo Its coming would bring the Indian Race a long sought period of Peace and Grace We will bring her gifts of Tobacco and Sage as the Vision at last has come of age We must honor our culture and heritage with pride for we now have the White Buffalo at our side.

As the Buffalo came into the feeding pasture we looked up and saw Miracle through an expertly woven dream catcher. The Buffalo rushed to their food except Miracle, who stood on a hill of hay observing the crowd. we were awestruck.

Later Generous Wolf sat down with Charlie LaFoe who had some interesting things to say. Charlie said his last name came from his grandfather who chose the name the enemy -­ La Foe when forced to take on an American name. Charlies grandfather was Sitting Bull... He spoke often using We in place of I and mentioned this as important. He also spoke more about the prophesies saying that the original medicine pipe given to the Sioux people by the white buffalo calf woman was now held by Orival Looking Horse and that a medicine bag was also given, which Charlie now held. It was said in the prophesies that when these two items came together a Peace Keeper for the World would be chosen by the white buffalo.

The Heiders have no intent on capitalizing on the white buffalo. They charge no admission, but will accept an offering to care for the famous baby. Donations can be sent to a trust fund @ Bank One, 100 W. Milwaukee, Janesville, WI 53545 in care of the White Buffalo Trust.

Bull That Sired White Buffalo Dead

Just Days After Rare Calf Born

First published September 2, 1994

Copyright 1994 by Neal White and the Beloit Daily News, First of two parts

By Neal White, City Editor

JANESVILLE -- Nestled beneath her mother's legs, the white buffalo calf stared through the fence at her father.

Less than two weeks old, she would occasionally call out in a low groan as if beckoning the large bull to rise.

Only his spirit rose on Thursday; the sire of the white buffalo calf had died.

Since her birth Aug. 20, on David and Valerie Heider's 45­acre exotic animal farm in rural Janesville, the white buffalo calf has drawn nationwide attention.

With the odds estimated at more than 1 in 10 million, experts with the National Buffalo Association had believed the gene needed to produce a white calf had been lost when the buffalo was nearly driven to extinction.

The Heider's calf is the first living white buffalo born in more than 50 years. To Native Americans, she is also being revered as a prophecy come true.

David discovered the bull Thursday morning while doing routine chores. He had died in the pen, down on the lower part of the 24­acre buffalo pasture.

David spent most of the morning alone, grieving the loss of an animal, and what it had come to represent.

In order to produce a white calf, both parents must carry the gene for that trait. With the bull dead, the odds of having another white calf seemed to have died with him.

Gaining his composure, by mid­morning David drove to where his son, Corey was working and broke the news.

Not knowing why the 6­year­old bull had died, the family decided to call a veterinarian and perform an autopsy.

It's been an extremely difficult day," Valerie said. We're not the only ones grieving today," she added, pointing to the 13 buffalo surrounding the pen.

Sensing the bull's death, several of the cows stood guard at the edge of the pen, as if waiting to pay their last respects. Others charged along the fence line, running back and forth, the earth shaking beneath their hooves.

The white buffalo calf, never straying from its mother, stared with wide eyes at her motionless father.

By mid­afternoon the vet had arrived, and Brown Bear, a representative of the Oneida tribe in Green Bay, was en route to Janesville. An elder in his tribe, Brown Bear had already visited the white buffalo calf. He was returning to pay tribute and pray for her father's spirit.

As the autopsy began, the family gathered around to see what could have caused the death.

After 17 years of raising cattle, horses, llama and dozens of other critters, posting a carcass had become routine.

But Marvin, the Heider's buffalo sire, was no ordinary livestock.

Several times during the autopsy David had to turn and walk away. Not from the sight or the stench, but to wipe away the tears.

Taking a break, David said he had received a phone call Tuesday night from Floyd Hand, chief medicine man of the Sioux Nation in Pine Ridge, S.D.

He told me the white buffalo calf was safe, and it was protected from evil spirits. He also said that Marvin was alright now, but he would lay down his life for the white calf," David said.

When I asked him what he meant, he said I see a black blockage.' I didn't think anything else anything about it until I walked out here this morning and Marvin was dead," he added.

An hour into the autopsy, Dr. Jim Schwisow called Valerie over to look at something in one of the stomachs. It was the first of two softball­sized hemorrhages formed near the entrance, deep black in color.

Valerie's face turned pale as she looked over at Corey.

By 5 p.m., Dr. Schwisow discovered the cause of the hemorrhages: several bleeding ulcers in the lower stomach. He determined the ulcers had caused the bull's death.

As the evening fell into darkness, the Heiders sat around the dinning room table waiting for Brown Bear to arrive before removing the carcass. Respecting the beliefs of his culture, they agreed to allow a prayer service.

Since the white calf's birth, the Heiders haven't been able to leave home. In addition to receiving round­the­clock phone calls from across the country, a steady stream of uninvited sight­seers are constantly pulling into their driveway wanting to visit.

Except for family members, the Heiders have only allowed Native Americans and a few members of the media to see the calf.

To (Native Americans), the white buffalo is sacred. It's only right to let them see it and say prayers for it," David said.

To date, representatives from the Oneida, Cherokee, Sioux, Navaho, Ojibwa, Winnebago and Lac du Flambou tribes have either called or stopped to pay homage to the calf.

On the knoll above the pen, a tree is adorned with more than a dozen Native American icons left to protect the white calf. Pointing at the different items and explaining its significance, David stops at the dream catcher.

A web of thread, woven in a circular shape hangs from the branch. A symbolic eagle feature is tethered to the bottom.

This is to catch the dreams of the white buffalo calf, which are pure and good, while preventing evil dreams from coming in," David explained during an earlier visit.

With very little experience in Native American culture, the Heiders have gotten a crash course in the past two weeks.

The more I understand the symbolism of the white buffalo and what it represents (to Native Americans), I got to admit, it scares the hell out of me," David said.

Why I was chosen for something so rare, I don't know. I have to believe that something good will come out of this. I was picked for a reason. What that reason is I don't know yet. But there has to be some reason behind it," he added.

Although he's had offers to buy the white calf from an exotic game farm in Florida and rock star Ted Nuggent, the Heiders have no intention of selling her.

I tell them all thanks for the interest, but no sale'," David said. This isn't about money. There's something going on here that larger than me or you. Money just doesn't enter into it."

Putting a flannel jacket on over his work shirt, David turned on a flashlight and began walking up the hill to the pen.

''This has been a really rough day," he said aloud, not really addressing it to anyone. I'm told that for every window that shuts, there is another one that opens. We'll just have to wait for that window."