Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9409240043
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MEGAN GARVEY THE WASHINGTON POST NOTE: below
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Miracle stands in her mother's considerable shadow, her champagne coat ghostlike against the chocolate-colored herd. She is a mat of fuzz on a newborn frame. Yet, Miracle is a rarity among land-roving beasts. She is the mythical White Buffalo - symbol of hope, rebirth and unity for the Great Plains Indian tribes.
Searching for Miracle will take you down a long gravel path on the Heider family farm in south central Wisconsin. Three thousand pilgrims made the walk down the coarse stones earlier this month hoping to catch a glimpse of Miracle. Every day, more come from all corners of the country. One man came from Ireland.
If this all sounds a little crazy to you, consider this: The chance of a white buffalo being born makes your odds of winning the lottery look good. Miracle's likelihood, according to numbers from the National Buffalo Association, is somewhere in the range of one in 6 billion. Consider also that the only other documented white buffalo this century died in 1959. His name was Big Medicine. He lived for 36 years.
Now, there is Miracle, the infant calf born to an 1,100-pound mother and a now-deceased father on Dave and Valerie Heider's farm on the banks of the Rock River. She is a beacon for believers.
The arrival of a white buffalo is like the second coming of Christ, says Floyd Hand, a Sioux medicine man from Pine Ridge, S.D., who was one of the first to make the pilgrimage. It ``will bring purity of mind, body and spirit, and unify all nations, black, red, yellow and white.''
There are countless stories about the White Buffalo, a different tale for every tribe.
Many years ago, says Tony Ironshell of the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota, three hunters encountered a white buffalo calf. The white buffalo turned into a woman and instructed the hunters to return to their village and prepare for her arrival. When she came four days later, she carried a sacred pipe. With that pipe she brought Woo'pe, Sioux laws, and many things changed. The pipe from the White Buffalo Calf Woman is still kept in South Dakota.
In their ancient White Buffalo Dance, the Fox Indians of Wisconsin shadow the vision of a legendary hunter, who could turn himself into a white buffalo at will after the beast appeared to him in a dream. A white buffalo with red eyes and horns, say the Fox, gave the hunter the power to single-handedly turn back an army of attacking Sioux.
Before the white buffalo's birth, the Heiders had never known an Indian and knew little about Indian culture.
Now, they are careful to say ``Native American,'' quickly correcting their tongues when they slip. And they readily recount the white buffalo stories they have heard.
``I am told,'' says Valerie, ``that Miracle's birth means the rebirth of the Native American culture and a new peace with whites. ... I know that you have never been bear-hugged until you've been bear-hugged by a Native American.''
Suzan Shown Harjo cried at her Washington, D.C., office when she heard about the birth of a white buffalo calf.
``It filled me with joy that had to spill over,'' says Harjo, who is Cheyenne and Muskogee. ``The white buffalo is an important symbol for a lot of Plains Indians because they are messengers of creation. It is an important sign of well-being and comingness, being on the verge of an awakening.''
Harjo, president of the Washington-based Morning Star Institute, which works to preserve native cultures, says the birth of Miracle should make ``all people pause the world over.''
Heider had never even heard of a white buffalo when he went out at 6 a.m. on Aug. 20 to check the buffalo cow who seemed ready to birth. Instead of the reddish brown calf he expected to find, he had a shock.
``She was white. I couldn't believe it,'' he says, still shaking his head. ``That kind of thing only happens in fairy tales - and, now I know, in Indian tales, too.''
Heider called a journalist friend to tell her he had a cute little story about a white buffalo being born. He had no idea of the importance of the White Buffalo in Indian mythology. Next thing they knew, the Associated Press had picked up the story, and what started as a trickle of curious visitors became a torrent.
The Heiders, who are about 12 years shy of retirement age, have taken refuge in their home. The attention has become too much. They have turned down countless offers for Miracle.
They see no end to the crowds, but have no plans to profit from Miracle's birth. They've put out a bucket for donations from well-wishers to provide for security and are awaiting a $4,600 electric gate they hope will give them weekday peace.
``As far as we know, Miracle will be something people want to see as long as she lives,'' says Dave Heider. ``But my life ain't gonna stop.'
by CNB