WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. — Sage burned on the banks of Hebgen Lake as Indigenous tribal leaders marched in procession Wednesday morning to honor the birth of a white buffalo calf. They sang songs and danced in a sacred ceremony under a cloudy sky as hundreds of onlookers watched in silence. The arrival of the rare white calf this month in Yellowstone National Park signaled, under tribal lore, both a blessing and a warning to the world.
An American buffalo, or bison, was running along the road with her amniotic sac protruding from her belly. Creech knew she was about to give birth and tried to follow her. But the mother-to-be swam across a river and disappeared over a hill. Some time later, Creech spotted the bison again, this time with her new calf. But unlike most newborns that have reddish-orange coloring, this calf was white. “I know how important it is to the Native people,” he said. “I’m still processing. It feels unreal.