Tribes honor the birth of rare white buffalo and reveal its name: Wakan Gli
https://www.npr.org/2024/06/27/nx-s1-5021164/white-buffalo-yellowstone-name-wakan-gli-return-sacred
Tribes honor the birth of rare white buffalo and reveal its name: Wakan Gli
JUNE 27, 2024 5:26 AM ET
By The Associated Press
This photo shows a white buffalo calf born on June 4, 2024, in the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, a spiritually significant event for many Native American tribes.
Jordan Creech via AP/Jordan Creech
WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. In a gathering near a picturesque lake outside Yellowstone National Park, hundreds of people cheered Wednesday as a Native American leader spoke the name revealed on a painted hide for a rare white buffalo that was born in the park earlier this month: Wakan Gli, which means "Return Sacred" in Lakota.
The moment marked the highlight of a Native American religious ceremony to commemorate the calf's birth that also featured dancing, drumming, singing and the retelling of how a mysterious woman brought a message of reassurance during hard times.
Earlier this month, the white buffalo calf was born in Yellowstone National Park's vast and lush Lamar Valley, where huge, lumbering bison graze by the hundreds in scenes reminiscent of the old American West.
To the several tribes who revere American bison they call them "buffalo" the calf's appearance was both the fulfilment of sacred prophesy and a message to take better care of the Earth.
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