The birth of the male calf on May 12, amidst a powerful thunderstorm on the ranch of Arby Little Soldier who is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota heritage, was nothing short of a miracle.
GREENVILLE, Texas — To the Lakota, there is nothing more sacred than the birth of a White Buffalo Calf. So when a White Buffalo Calf was born here in Hunt County, it attracted national attention. The birth of the male calf on May 12, amidst a powerful thunderstorm on the ranch of Arby Little Soldier who is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota heritage, was nothing short of a miracle. White buffalo are extremely rare; and according to the National Bison Association they occur in approximately one out of every 10 million births. Arby Little Soldier and his wife Patricia were out riding horseback when they spotted a newborn buffalo calf, “His brother was born a couple of days before him and we went to see him. We started riding back and saw a cow that was fixin’ to have a calf, so my wife said, ‘Let’s stay and watch.’ But the herd started surrounding us so we left.” The next day when he got home he said he saw something near his pond running alongside one of the cows that he thought was a coyote or a white dog. He took out his binoculars and could see the small calf running along the backside of his mother but was cut off from getting a direct look at it. “Finally she stopped and he walked ahead of her and he peaked his head around the front of her chest. He looked back and looked up towards me and I could see his face. It was a white face with black eyes and a black nose and he had a black tipped tail,” he said, all traits of a truly sacred white buffalo. “It was pretty amazing,” he said. “He was born to all nations and not just to me.” The couple, who met in high school in Bismarck, N.D. and reunited after many years at a rodeo in Texas, both come from a long line of buffalo ranchers. Patricia’s family raised buffalo on a ranch north of Bismarck called the Blackburn Ranch and Arby also managed a large herd in North Dakota before moving to Texas. Together they manage a herd of about 50 head of buffalo on their ranch located about an hour northeast of Dallas. The couple operated a small concession business selling buffalo products and attended some of the largest events around the country, including Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, N.M. and the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. After traveling across the United States and crossing eight different time zones in one year they decided to call it quits. Now the couple will have a full time job with the onslaught of publicity generated over the birth of Wakinyah Pejuta Mahpiya, Lightning Medicine Cloud the name Little Soldier would like to bestow on the sacred calf, but he must wait until tribal leaders from around the country gather at his ranch to determine what prophecy the animal brings. The official naming ceremony will be Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 9 a.m. This will be the official blessing and dedication ceremony performed by the elders and medicine men from North Dakota and South Dakota tribes. All nations, all drum groups, and dancers have been invited to attend. For a detailed schedule go to www.lightningmedicinecloud.com. (Contact Ernestine Chasing Hawk at managingeditor@nsweekly.com)
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