White buffalo
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2008-07-14T23:31:21Z
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/* In popular culture */
:''Alternate meanings: [[White Buffalo (disambiguation)]]''
[[Image:Blonde bison 2.jpg|thumb|250px|right|A "''white buffalo''" at the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Safari in [[Ashland, Nebraska]]. This [[American bison]] not a true white buffalo, being 1/16th [[Charolais cattle]]. The bison is named "Dakota". It is expected that the bison will darken as it matures.]]
[[American Bison|American buffalo]] (technically [[bison]]) are normally brown in color.
Rarely, '''white buffalo''' are born.
White Buffalo are considered to be [[sacred]] signs in several [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[religion]]s, and thus have great spiritual importance in those cultures and are visited for prayer and other religious ceremonies.
White buffalo can result from one of several physical conditions:
* They may be [[leucistic]], with white fur but blue eyes, instead of the pink seen in albinos.
* They may have a rare genetic condition which causes a buffalo to be born white, but to become brown within a year or two as it matures.
* They may be [[albino]]s, in which case they will remain unpigmented throughout their lives, and may also have hearing and vision problems.
* They may be [[beefalo]], a bison-[[cattle]] crossbreed, and thus have inherited the white coloration from their cattle ancestry.
== Individual white buffalo ==
* In [[1833]], a white bison was killed by the [[Cheyenne]]. The skin of this bison is hanging on the wall of [[Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site|Bent's Old Fort]] in Colorado. The Cheyenne killed this white bison during the [[Leonids|Leonid Meteor Shower]] (The Night the Stars Fell) and scribed a peace and trade treaty on its skin. This event was documented by historian Josiah Gregg and other travelers on the Santa Fe Trail.
* On [[October 7]], [[1876]], a Scottish buffalo hunter named J. Wright Mooar killed a white buffalo in the Deep Creek drainage near [[Snyder, Texas]]. He retained the hide his entire life, despite reports that [[Teddy Roosevelt]] offered him $5000 for the hide. White Buffalo Park is presently located near the site of the shooting, and an adjacent ranch is the current resting place of the hide.
* A bison named Big Medicine (1933-1959) was born in the wild on the [[National Bison Range]] on [[Montana]]'s [[Flathead Indian Reservation]], and is now displayed at the Montana Historical Society.[http://www.his.state.mt.us/museum/permex.asp]
* A white buffalo was recorded at the U.S. Army Arctic Testing Center, Fort Greely, Alaska. There is a copyrighted photograph of it in ''Seeing the White Buffalo'' by Robert Pickering. This buffalo was part of a herd that had been relocated from Montana.
* A female named Miracle (not to be confused with Miracle Moon), was born at the family farm of Dave, Valerie, and Corey Heider near [[Janesville, Wisconsin]] on [[August 20]], [[1994]]. Her fur fully transitioned to brown as she matured, and she gave birth to four calves of her own before dying of natural causes on [[September 19]], [[2004]]. [[Sioux]] tribal members had continually visited their farm since the birth of Miracle. Additionally, a calf born at the Heider farm died aged 4 days in 1996. A third white calf was born in August 2006 which died after being struck by lightning in November of the same year.
* [http://www.sacredwhitebuffalo.org/ Spirit Mountain Ranch] in [[Flagstaff, Arizona]] has successfully bred three generations of white buffalo starting from a single white female, most with brown fathers. Their herd includes eleven white animals as of May 15, 2008:
** Miracle Moon (female, born [[April 30]], [[1997]]), calf of Big Momma (brown),
** Rainbow Spirit (female, born [[June 8]], [[2000]], calf of Miracle Moon)
** Mandela Peace Pilgrim (female, born [[July 18]], [[2001]], calf of Miracle Moon)
** Arizona Spirit (male, born [[July 1]], [[2002]], calf of Miracle Moon)
** Sunrise Spirit (female, born [[May 22]], [[2004]], calf of Mandela Peace Pilgrim)
** Spirit Thunder (male, born [[May 27]], [[2004]], calf of Rainbow Spirit)
** Chief Hiawatha (male, born [[May 16]], [[2005]], calf of Miracle Moon)
** Our Lucky Star (male, born [[June 10]], [[2006]], calf of Big Momma)
** White Spirit (male, born [[June 10]], [[2007]], calf of Sunrise Spirit)
** Happy Spirit (female, born May 4, 2008, calf of Miracle Moon)
** Dena's Pride 'n' Joy (female, born May 15, 2008, calf of Big Momma)
NOTE: On [[June 4]], [[2006]], Miracle Moon gave birth to Little Dream Walker, a snow white baby (albino), sired by Arizona Spirit. This was the first white to white breeding. He passed away on [[June 6]], [[2006]], due to albinism.
NOTE: Miracle Moon (the first white of this line) has been DNA tested, and is shown to be 100% buffalo, or bison.
* [[Mahpiya Ska]] ("White Cloud") (Cherokee:ᎤᏁᎬ ᎤᎶᎩᎸ) is an albino white buffalo born [[July 10]], [[1996]]. She has resided since 1997 at the [http://www.buffalomuseum.com/ National Buffalo Museum and Cultural Center] in [[Jamestown, North Dakota]]. Mahpiya Ska has been certified by the [[National Bison Association]] as an albino white bison; she is deaf and has impaired vision. She has had four brown calves. On [[August 31]], [[2007]], she gave birth to a white calf. The calf has yet to be tested, but it is believed to be albino.
* [[Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo]] in [[Tupelo, Mississippi]], owns a white buffalo bull named Tukota.
* A male white buffalo named Spirit of Peace was born on [[April 17]], [[2005]], on the Blatz Bison Ranch in [[Fort St. John, British Columbia]]. Spirit of Peace died on [[June 1]] of the same year, probably as a result of his premature birth.
* [http://www.buffalocrossing.com Buffalo Crossing in Shelbyville, KY] owns a female white buffalo named Medicine Heart, born [[June 3]], [[2005]].
* A male named Blizzard was born in March 2006 on the farm of an anonymous rancher, who arranged to have the calf transported to [[Assiniboine Park Zoo]] in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]] in recognition of his spiritual significance to aboriginal people.
* A third white buffalo was born on the Heider farm (see "Miracle" above) on [[August 25]], [[2006]]. The male calf was named Miracle's Second Chance and was unrelated to Miracle. The Heiders planned to breed the male with the descendants of Miracle, but during a thunderstorm late [[November 26]], [[2006]], five buffalo on the Heider farm were killed in a lightning strike, including Miracle's Second Chance.
* [[Kenahkihinén]] (Kĕ-'''Nah‛'''-Ki-Nĕn, from the [[Lenape language]] meaning 'Watch Over Us'), a male white buffalo calf, was born [[November 12]], [[2006]], at Woodland Zoo in [[Farmington, Pennsylvania]].
* In the last week of May, 2008, a white calf was born to a normal brown 2 year old at the National Buffalo Museum, Jamestown ND, so there are now 3 white buffalo there
== In popular culture ==
* Singer/songwriter [[Jacob Smith]] - "The White Buffalo" [http://www.thewhitebuffalo.com/]
* The birth of a white buffalo is featured in the Season 3 ''[[X-Files]]'' episode, "[[The Blessing Way (The X-Files)|The Blessing Way]]".
* A white buffalo is featured in the flag of [[Wyoming]]
* [[Ted Nugent]] wrote a hit song called "Great White Buffalo"
* The new-age band [[Cusco (band)|Cusco]] wrote a song called "White Buffalo" for their album [[Apurimac III]]
* The heavy-metal band [[Running Wild (band)|Running Wild]] wrote a song called "White Buffalo" for their album [[Pile of Skulls]]
* ''[[The White Buffalo]]'' is a 1977 film starring [[Charles Bronson]].
* "White Buffalo" was an episode of the series ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]''
* "White Buffalo Calf Song" by Pipestone Creek Singers
==See also==
* [[White Buffalo Calf Woman]]
==References==
{{Refimprove|date=June 2007}}
* Pickering, Robert B., ''Seeing the White Buffalo''. pp. 91-92.
== External links ==
* [http://www.homestead.com/WhiteBuffaloMiracle/ Miracle, the Sacred White Buffalo]
* [http://www.pdhomes.net/html/creations/Pages/8/White_Buffalo_Born.html White bison calf born on May 22, 2004 outside of Flagstaff]
* [http://calgary.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ca_buffalo20050524 White bison calf born on April 17, 2005 in Fort Saint John, British Columbia]
* [http://www.tupelobuffalopark.com Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo in Tupelo, Mississippi]
* [http://www.whitebuffalosilver.com White Buffalo Jewelry]
* [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1051146/white_buffalo/ Video of White Cloud and her calf]
* [http:] www.whitebuffaloryo.com White Buffalo Rolling Paper/Cigarette paper
[[Category:Bison]]
[[Category:Native American religion]]