Native Voices
Truths, wisdom, beliefs, and spirituality of the Native American
“We are now in a time of prophecy: Animal nations would stand upon Mother Earth a different color than their natural being and be born white.” —Chief Arvol Looking Horse
The Lakota people have a prophecy about a white buffalo calf.
The prophecy originated when the sacred pipe was brought to them by the spirit woman known as White Buffalo Calf Woman. When she brought the pipe, she also brought seven sacred ceremonies and taught the people songs and tradition, instructing them on how to live in balance with all life. She told the people to give thanks for the bounty of the earth, to celebrate the sustenance it provided and the promise it afforded. She said the land would nourish them if they practiced the principles and sacred ceremonies she taught. Before she left, she said that the birth of a white buffalo calf would be a sign of her return when she would, again, purify the world and bring back harmony and spiritual balance.
On August 20, 1994, a white buffalo calf, named Miracle, was born at the small family farm of Dave, Valerie, and Corey Heider near Janesville, Wisconsin.
her mother on the morning she was born [Bottom right] Miracle, the sacred white buffalo
It was a rare event. Miracle was the first white buffalo calf born since 1933. For Native Americans, the birth held even greater significance. The calf was female; and the bull that had sired her died shortly after her birth, as had been prophesied. Native Americans believed Miracle’s birth fulfilled the prophecy of White Buffalo Calf Woman’s return and was an omen of universal importance.
“Some Native Americans believe Miracle was the reincarnation of the holy woman who appeared to their people long ago. Having awaited her return with the same passion Christians sustain for Christ’s second coming, many indigenous people believed her arrival foretold a new age of planetary harmony. Some believers interpreted Miracle’s birth as a simple reassurance that the Great Spirit had not forsaken them. To those who may have abandoned their traditional faith practices, her presence designated a time to recommit to ethnic beliefs. There are others who believed her appearance held hope for reconciliation between the races; her return meant white men would begin to accept the truths contained in traditional Native American values.” —Kathleen Buerer, Meeting Miracle: The Living Legend
CLICK THUMBNAIL FOR LARGER VIEW
Miracle became a highly sacred symbol of renewal for humanity and hope for harmony between people of all races in our world today. The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations (collectively known as the Sioux) became In a phone interview shortly after Miracle’s birth, Joseph Chasing Horse, traditional leader of the Lakota nation, said that winter counts—that date the telling of the White Buffalo Calf Woman story in sacred ceremonies—confirmed that Miracle was the buffalo calf of the prophecy.1her primary spiritual guardians; and tribal members frequently visited the farm to pray, leave offerings, and serve as security. The Heiders opened the farm to the public, free of charge, seven days a week; and thousands of people came to offer prayers in Miracle’s presence. The gate to the pasture where Miracle grazed, and the trees next to it, were covered with offerings—feathers, necklaces, and pieces of colorful cloth as well as personal notes and the occasional medal won in Vietnam.
and the ensuing age of harmony and balance
it represents cannot be revoked.”
—Joseph Chasing Horse
Miracle’s fur turned brown as she matured. While visitors to the Heider farm might have been disappointed not to find a white calf, versions of the prophecy state that the white buffalo calf would change colors four times. Jay Pierce, Valerie Hieder’s father, said in 1995: “She started out white alright, but then turned jet black for all of the winter. Right now, she’s a kind of cinnamony yellow. Those are three of the four colors; and, according to the prophecies that have been explained to us, there is one color left—red.”
Miracle gave birth to four calves before dying of natural causes on September 19, 2004.
