Wakan Gli: Tribes honor birth of rare white buffalo in Yellowstone, announce its name

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. — A Native American tribal leader on Wednesday announced the name of a rare white buffalo born earlier this month as hundreds of people gathered outside Yellowstone National Park.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse announced the calf’s name: Wakan Gli, which means “return sacred” in Lakota, The Associated Press reported. The calf’s name was revealed on a painted hide, the highlight of a Native American religious ceremony.

The ceremony featured dancing, drumming, singing and the retelling of a legend that has persisted for more than 2,000 years, according to the new organization.

“It’s up to each and every one of you to make it happen for the future of our children. We must come together and bring that good energy back,” Looking Horse said on Wednesday.

He is the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Oyate tribes and the 19th keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Woman Pipe and Bundle, according to the AP.

Representatives of the Lakota and Sioux tribes in the Dakota, Colville Tribes in Washington state, Northern Arapaho in Wyoming, and Shoshone-Bannock in Idaho attended the ceremonies at the headquarters of the Buffalo Field Campaign, the news organization reported.

Devin Old Man, a preservationist and tribal advocate, said the white calf comes at a time of great peril for people, especially tribes that have become isolated from one another, NBC News reported.

“It’s hard to be a native these days,” he told the news outlet. “We have to look at the bigger picture.”

The birth of the calf in Yellowstone National Park is said to fulfill a prophecy that portends better times when a white calf is seen, according to members of the Native American tribe.

According to the legend, about 2,000 years ago White Buffalo Calf Woman appeared to the tribe during bad times and presented a bowl pipe and a bundle to a tribal member.

She taught them how to pray and said that the pipe could be used to bring buffalo to the area for food. As she left, she turned into a white buffalo calf, the legend says.

“And someday when the times are hard again,” the woman said before she left, “I shall return and stand upon the earth as a white buffalo calf, black nose, black eyes, black hooves.”

Bison were declared the first national mammal in 2016 when then-President Barack Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act, NBC News reported.

“This is a very momentous time in our history when this white buffalo calf with black nose, black eyes, black hooves is born,” Looking Horse said.

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