Lightning Medicine Cloud

At the Lakota Ranch in Greenville, Texas, on May 12, 2011, on a thundering, stormy night complete with lightning and hail, a prophesy was born – a living piece of a legend central to many Native spiritualities.  It took the form of a buffalo calf that emerged into the world completely white, a one-in-ten-million occurence that is even more miraculous considering the scarcity of buffalo today.  The Lakota Ranch, like the several other places where white, non-albino buffalo have been born in recent years, is going to become a site of pilgrimage for throngs of visitors.

To Native Americans, the Bison or American Buffalo was a symbol of sacred life and abundance. This importance and symbolism was created from legend:     One summer a long time ago, the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was strong and the people were starving for there was no game. Two young men went out to hunt in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Along the way, a beautiful young woman dressed in white appeared to the warriors and said, “Return to your people and tell them I am coming.” This holy woman presented the Lakota people with the sacred pipe which showed how all things were connected. She taught the Lakota people the mysteries of the earth. She taught them to pray and follow the proper path while on earth. As the woman left the tribe, she rolled upon the earth four times, changing color each time, and finally turning into a white buffalo calf. Then she disappeared. Almost at the same time as her leaving, great herds of buffalo could be seen surrounding the camps. It is said that after that day, the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful.  Learn more at: (www.lightningmedicinecloud.com)