FW: Sacred white buffalo killed (fwd)

[ROOD DAVID S]

David S. Rood
Dept. of Linguistics
Univ. of Colorado
Campus Box 295
Boulder, CO 80309-0295
USA
rood at colorado.edu

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 08:47:16 -0600
From: "R.A.Cameron" <Cameron at Colorado.EDU>
To: Educ Grads <educ-grad-students at Colorado.EDU>,
    ling-dept at lists.Colorado.EDU
Cc: Jason Bradley Gilbreath <jgilbreath at novazen.com>,
    Jeffrey MacLachlan <jefmac at mindspring.com>
Subject: FW: Sacred white buffalo killed (fwd)



>->-----Original Message-----
>->>
>->>Sacred white buffalo killed
>->>BY JODI RAVE LEE
>->>Lincoln Journal Star
>->>
>->>Caption - "Short life: Medicine Wheel, a rare white buffalo born May 9,
>->>1996, was shot to death Sunday."
>->>
>->>---------------------------------------------------------------->->>
>->>When Joe Merrival was called to the scene of a buffalo shooting
>->on the Pine
>->>Ridge Indian Reservation recently, he stared in disbelief --
>->not far away
>->>lay his sacred buffalo, its throat slit, its hide tattered.
>->Medicine Wheel
>->>had been the first white buffalo born on Indian lands in more than a
>->>century.
>->>
>->>"I just felt, "Oh no, it's the white buffalo,'" Merrival said
>->Thursday. "I
>->>tried to control myself. My mind went blank actually. I didn't
>->want to say
>->>anything wrong, so I just said, "It's the white buffalo.'" Born May 9,
>->>1996,
>->>the white calf was immediately viewed as a symbol of hope, rebirth and
>->>unity
>->>for numerous Great Plains tribes.
>->>
>->>"For us, this would be something like coming to see Jesus lying in the
>->>manger," Floyd Hand Looks For Buffalo said shortly after
>->Medicine Wheel's
>->>birth.
>->>
>->>Today, the calf's death comes amid turmoil and chaos on Pine
>->Ridge, where
>->>internal and external pressures have rocked its 20,000 Oglala Lakota for
>->>much of the past year.
>->>
>->>Throughout last summer, demonstrators marched on nearby Whiteclay, Neb.,
>->>protesting beer sales and a spate of unsolved Indian murders.
>->And for the
>->>past 68 days, another group has occupied the tribal administration
>->>building.
>->>
>->>The buffalo's death is a sign that life for American Indian
>->people will get
>->>worse before it gets better, said Looks for Buffalo, a spokesman for the
>->>takeover group Grassroots Oyate.
>->>
>->>According to a tribal police report, Pine Ridge's symbol of
>->hope and unity
>->>died just after 8 p.m. Sunday, when police officer Alex Morgan
>->spotted the
>->>animal running down a road near the Red Cloud community.
>->>
>->>Morgan and tribal member Leon Poor Bear pursued the animal,
>->which ran into
>->>a
>->>yard.
>->>
>->>"We tried to chase it back down the road, but it would put down
>->his head
>->>and
>->>charge us," Morgan wrote in his report. "I told Leon to shoot
>->the buffalo
>->>for the safety of the community." When Merrival found the buffalo's body
>->>later that night, it appeared someone had started to butcher
>->it, he said:
>->>its throat was slit and its hide scarred from being dragged
>->down a gravel
>->>road.
>->>
>->>The rare animal's significance is rooted in Lakota oral history, which
>->>tells
>->>the story of a holy woman visiting one of their villages. She
>->taught them
>->>their seven sacred ceremonies and their four great virtues: courage,
>->>wisdom,
>->>generosity and fortitude. Before she left, she told the people not to
>->>worry,
>->>that she would return one day, and that a sign of her arrival would be a
>->>white buffalo calf.
>->>
>->>A version of the prophecy predicts the calf will be born white but will
>->>change in color -- to black, to yellow, to red and back to
>->white -- as it
>->>matures, Merrival said. Medicine Wheel was in the black phase.
>->>
>->>When Medicine Wheel was born, doubt existed whether the animal was 100
>->>percent bison. Tests from Storemont Laboratory in Woodland, Calif.,
>->>however,
>->>proved it to be pure.
>->>
>->>Now that the animal is dead, Merrival will use its hair and bones "for
>->>spiritual purposes," sharing the parts with as many people as
>->he can. After
>->>that, "I'll put it back into the pasture to where it was born."
>->>
>->>Reporter Jodi Rave Lee (Mandan-Hidatsa/Lakota) can be reached
>->at 473-7240
>->>or
>->>jrave at journalstar.com.
>->>
>->>
>->>=====================================
>->>COPYRIGHT: (1) Articles are posted under the fair use
>->>www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of
>->international copyright
>->>law, Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107. In accordance with it,
>->material in this
>->>missive is distributed without profit to those who have
>->expressed a prior
>->>interest in receiving the information by remaining subscribed
>->to YazzieNet
>->>and its affiliated lists. All copyrights belong to original publisher.
>->>DISCLAIMER: (2) YazzieNet has not verified  the accuracy of the
>->forwarded
>->>message and forwarding this message does not necessarily imply agreement
>->>with the positions stated herein.
>->>=====================================
>->
>->______________________________________________________
>->Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com