One summer a long time ago, the seven
sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was
strong and the people were starving for there was no game. Two young men went
out to hunt in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Lightning Medicine Cloud Along the way, a
beautiful young woman dressed in white appeared to the warriors and said,
"Return to your people and tell them I am coming." This holy woman
presented the Lakota people with the sacred pipe which showed how all things
were connected. She taught the Lakota people the mysteries of the earth. She
taught them to pray and follow the proper path while on earth. As the woman
left the tribe, she rolled upon the earth four times, changing color each time,
and finally turning into a white buffalo calf. Then she disappeared. Almost at
the same time as her leaving, great herds of buffalo could be seen surrounding
the camps. It is said that after that day, the Lakota honored their pipe, and
buffalo were plentiful. This story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman
has immense importance to the Lakota and many other tribes. As John Lame Deer,
a spiritual leader says, "A white buffalo is the most sacred living thing
you could ever encounter." The changing colors—like some white buffalo do
as they age—have significance, too, which must be interpreted by a holy
man. The American Buffalo or Bison is a symbol
of abundance and manifestation. The lesson learned by the Lakota is that one
does not have to struggle to survive. This is especially true if the right
action is joined by the right prayer. By learning to appropriately unite the
mundane with the divine, all that will be needed will be provided. Lightning
Medicine CloudThe Native Americans see the birth of a white buffalo calf as the
most significant of prophetic signs, equivalent to the weeping statues,
bleeding icons, and crosses of light that are becoming prevalent within the
Christian churches today. Where the Christian faithful who visit these signs
see them as a renewal of God's ongoing relationship with humanity, so do the
Native Americans see the white buffalo calf as the sign to begin life's sacred
hoop. "The arrival of the white buffalo is like the second coming of
Christ," says Floyd Hand Looks For Buffalo, an Oglala Medicine Man from
Pine Ridge, South Dakota. "It will bring about purity of mind, body, and
spirit and ;unify all nations—black, red, yellow, and white." He sees the
birth of a white calf as an omen because they happen in the most unexpected
places and often among the poorest people in the nation. The birth of the
sacred white buffalo provides those within the Native American community with a
sense of hope and an indication that good times are to come. The telling of a story from one culture to
another is complex; without living in the culture, we miss much of the story's
significance. However, it can still have meaning for us if we take the time to
learn about the philosophy of the culture from which it came, perhaps
meditating or reflecting on its place in our own lives .~~~Jack Crow~~