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Buffalo - An American Icon
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The Legend of the White Buffalo
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"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. "White Buffalo Calf Woman" It is said after that day the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful." - John Lame Deer

Miracle is Born! - Following that initial story, Native Americans throughout North America began arriving at David Heider's farm, wanting to see the calf and perform religious ceremonies. Tribal elders said the birth was the fulfillment of a sacred prophecy, signaling a new age of global spirituality and unification of the races. Many called the birth ``a modern day miracle.'' Since the calf's birth in late August of 1994, representatives from more than 30 tribes have performed nearly 100 ceremonies honoring the calf. Because of its significance to Native Americans, the Heiders named the calf Miracle, and agreed never to sell the calf. They had received several substantial offers, including one from rock star Ted Nugent.
Bill Barth, Editor - Beloit Daily News

Stop the Slaughter! More than 75 million bison once roamed North America from the western mountain grasslands to as far east as Georgia. When Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, bison were found throughout North America from Canada to northern Mexico. At that time there were 4 subspecies: plains and wood, Oregon, and eastern. Today, only the plains and wood bison survive. The bison were massacred in the late 1800s for their hides and in an effort to subdue Native Americans of the plains. By 1889 only an estimated 541 bison remained.

Great Sioux Reservation, including the Black Hills, would be 'set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians named herein...it established the Great Sioux Reservation, a tract of land [comprising most of South Dakota west of the Missouri River] in addition to certain reservations already existing east of the Missouri. The United States 'solemnly agree[d]' that no unauthorized persons 'shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in [this] territory. Treaty of Fort Laramie .....But there was gold in the Black Hills. So the Army went in under Custer, and as a result of his descriptions of the mineral and timber resources of the Black Hills, and the land's suitability for grazing and cultivation, the white settlers wanted entry into the Sioux Treaty lands.
In 1980, after 117 years of legal battles through congress and the courts, the Supreme Court awarded the Sioux nation $105 million as settlement for their Black Hills claim. The Sioux refuse to touch the U.S. government's money . They want their sacred land back. The award has since grown to $350 million, and still they continue to refuse the money.

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" Let us put our minds together to see what we can build for our children." Sitting Bull, 1877
Help Native Americans in Wakpala, South Dakota build a new school for their children.
If you would like to help support efforts to provide a healthy learning environment for these deserving young Native American minds, please contact: