From a distance, you can see what appears to be a typical herd of roughly two dozen bison on a meadow just outside of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, Man.
But when you get closer to the herd, you’ll notice that one of the most recent recruits has significantly greater significance.
On May 7, the village welcomed a rare white male bison calf. The calf’s mother, a white bison (also known as buffalo), was born at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo in 2009 and was given to the community herd due to the animal’s cultural significance.
“The significance of the white buffalo calf woman is that… all of our teachings, traditions, and rituals were delivered through the white buffalo calf woman,” Sioux Valley Chief Vince Tacan explained. “There are many people in the community that adhere to the views.”
“That [the white buffalo] marks the beginning of our culture, beliefs, and ceremonies,” he added. “It is extremely essential to us.”
When Tacan saw the calf, he knew they were dealing with something exceptional, but he didn’t go out of his way to notify everyone. Tacan is one of the herders in the community.
People have traveled from as far away as the United States to visit the young bison and leave tobacco offerings wrapped in colorful ribbons and pouches that now adorn the fence that surrounds it.
“It’s up to you [community members] to come to the buffalo and make your offerings,” Tacan explained.
Tacan said he wasn’t sure what the chances of a white bison being born were, but it’s the first one the community’s herd has seen since the mother bison was introduced to the herd more than six years ago.
The town has been asked to bring the buffalo out and display it at fairs and other occasions, but he prefers to keep it in the pasture.
“I don’t think we’d want to show her [the mother] in that way,” Tacan remarked. “It’s a holy animal…. You’d have to come out here if you wanted to see it.
“We’re attempting to work in a polite manner.”
Tacan stated that the bison are now utilized as a teaching tool for the community while the herd grows in size, but they may consider a commercial enterprise in the future.
“The buffalo were significant in the past, and we hope they will be significant in the future,” he said.
So far this year, ten bison calves have been born in the Sioux Valley herd.
Officials at Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo believe Blizzard, a white bison at the zoo, and Sioux Valley’s white bison and its calf are the only three white bison in Manitoba.
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