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. Along the way, the two men met a beautiful young woman
dressed in white who floated as she walked.
One man had bad desires for the woman and tried
to touch her, but was consumed by a cloud and turned into a pile of bones. The woman spoke to
the second young man and said, "Return to your people and tell them I am coming." This holy
woman brought a wrapped bundle to the people. She unwrapped the bundle giving to the people a
sacred pipe and teaching them how to use it to pray. "With this holy pipe, you will walk like
a living prayer," she said.
The holy woman told the Sioux about the value of the buffalo, the
women and the children. "You are from Mother Earth," she told the women, "What you are doing is
as great as the warriors do." Before she left, she told the people she would return. As she walked
away, she rolled over four times, turning into a white female buffalo calf. It is said after that
day the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful. (from John Lame Deer's telling in
1967). Many believe that the buffalo calf, Miracle, born August 20, 1994 symbolizes the coming
together of humanity into a oneness of heart, mind, and spirit.
