The legend of the White Buffalo Woman is a cornerstone of Lakota spirituality, a sacred narrative passed down through generations. It tells the story of how the Lakota people received the chanunpa, the sacred pipe, and the teachings that accompany it. This gift, bestowed upon them during a time of great hardship, serves as a bridge between the earthly and the divine, a tangible connection to Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery.
The story unfolds during a summer of immense suffering. The Oceti Shakowin, the seven sacred council fires representing the Lakota nation, were gathered. Yet, the land offered no sustenance. The sun beat down relentlessly, but game was nowhere to be found, and the people were on the brink of starvation. Desperate, scouts were sent out daily to search for food, but their efforts proved futile. The land seemed barren, devoid of life.
Among the assembled bands were the Itazipcho, the Without Bows, led by their chief, Standing Hollow Horn. Driven by the desperation of his people, Standing Hollow Horn dispatched two young men early one morning to scour the land for any sign of game. They set out on foot, a stark reminder of a time before horses transformed the Lakota way of life. They tirelessly searched, their hopes dwindling with each passing hour.
As they journeyed, they spotted a high hill and resolved to climb it, hoping to gain a wider view of the surrounding territory. About halfway up the hill, their attention was captured by a peculiar sight in the distance. A figure was approaching them, but it wasn’t walking; it seemed to be floating above the ground. The young men immediately recognized this as a sign of the supernatural, an indication that the person was wakan, holy.
Initially, the figure appeared as a mere speck, requiring them to strain their eyes to discern its form. As it drew closer, they realized it was a woman of extraordinary beauty, surpassing any they had ever encountered. Her cheeks were adorned with two round, red dots of face paint, enhancing her already captivating appearance. She was clad in a magnificent white buckskin outfit, meticulously tanned to a radiant sheen that reflected the sunlight from afar. The buckskin was elaborately embroidered with sacred and intricate designs of porcupine quill, showcasing vibrant colors and masterful craftsmanship that seemed beyond the skill of ordinary hands. This wakan stranger was Ptesan-Wi, The White Buffalo Woman.
In her hands, she carried a large bundle, its contents concealed from view, and a fan made of sage leaves, their fragrant aroma filling the air. Her hair, a cascade of blue-black, flowed freely, except for a single strand on the left side, which was tied up with buffalo fur. Her eyes, dark and sparkling, radiated an intense power that captivated and humbled those who beheld them.
The two young men stood transfixed, their mouths agape in awe. One of them was overwhelmed by the woman’s sacred presence, feeling a profound sense of reverence. The other, however, was consumed by lustful desire. He reached out his hand, intending to touch her, failing to recognize the immense power she possessed. This was a grave error, a transgression against the sacred. The White Buffalo Woman was lila waken, very sacred, and could not be treated with disrespect.
Instantly, a bolt of lightning flashed from the sky, striking the brash young man. He was consumed by the divine fire, reduced to a small heap of blackened bones, a stark reminder of the consequences of disrespecting the sacred. Another account suggests that a dark cloud enveloped him, and within it, he was devoured by snakes, leaving behind only his skeleton, a symbolic representation of how lust can consume a person from the inside out.
To the other scout, who had maintained his respect and reverence, the White Buffalo Woman spoke with a voice of gentle authority. "Good things I am bringing, something holy to your nation," she said. "A message I carry for your people from the buffalo nation. Go back to the camp and tell the people to prepare for my arrival. Tell your chief to put up a medicine lodge with twenty-four poles. Let it be made holy for my coming."
The young hunter, filled with a sense of purpose and urgency, returned to the camp. He relayed the sacred woman’s instructions to Chief Standing Hollow Horn and the rest of the people. The chief, recognizing the significance of the message, instructed the eyapaha, the crier, to spread the word throughout the camp circle. The crier’s voice echoed through the encampment, announcing, "Someone sacred is coming. A holy woman approaches. Make all things ready for her!"
The people, heeding the call, worked diligently to erect the large medicine tipi, meticulously following the instructions given by the White Buffalo Woman. They waited with anticipation and reverence. After four days, they saw her approaching, her radiant white buckskin dress shining from afar. Chief Standing Hollow Horn, extending a gesture of respect, invited her to enter the medicine lodge.
She entered the tipi and circled the interior in a sunwise direction, a symbolic act of purification and blessing. The chief addressed her respectfully, saying, "Sister, we are glad you have come to instruct us."
The White Buffalo Woman then outlined her instructions. In the center of the tipi, they were to construct an owanka wakan, a sacred altar, made of red earth. Upon the altar, they were to place a buffalo skull and a three-stick rack, to hold the holy thing she was bringing. The people followed her instructions meticulously. She traced a design on the smoothed earth of the altar with her finger, demonstrating the proper way to create it. She then circled the lodge again in a sunwise direction.
Halting before the chief, she opened the bundle she had been carrying. Within it was the chanunpa, the sacred pipe. She held it out for the people to see, allowing them to gaze upon its sacred form. She grasped the stem with her right hand and the bowl with her left, a tradition that has been maintained ever since.
The chief spoke again, saying, "Sister, we are glad. We have had no meat for some time. All we can give you is water." They dipped some wacanga, sweet grass, into a skin bag of water and offered it to her. To this day, the Lakota people dip sweet grass or an eagle wing in water and sprinkle it on a person to be purified, a practice that originated from this sacred encounter.
The White Buffalo Woman then demonstrated how to use the pipe. She filled it with chan-shasha, red willow-bark tobacco. She walked around the lodge four times, mirroring the path of Anpetu-Wi, the great sun. This symbolized the circle without end, the sacred hoop, the road of life. The woman placed a dry buffalo chip on the fire and used it to light the pipe. This was peta-owihankeshini, the fire without end, the flame to be passed on from generation to generation. She explained that the smoke rising from the bowl was Tunkashila’s breath, the living breath of the Great Grandfather Mystery.
She instructed the people on the proper way to pray, teaching them the right words and gestures. She taught them how to sing the pipe-filling song and how to lift the pipe up to the sky, toward Grandfather, and down toward Grandmother Earth, to Unci, and then to the four directions of the universe.
"With this holy pipe," she said, "you will walk like a living prayer. With your feet resting upon the earth and the pipestem reaching into the sky, your body forms a living bridge between the Sacred Beneath and the Sacred Above. Wakan Tanka smiles upon us, because now we are as one: earth, sky, all living things, the two-legged, the four-legged, the winged ones, the trees, the grasses. Together with the people, they are all related, one family. The pipe holds them all together."
"Look at this bowl," said the White Buffalo Woman. "Its stone represents the buffalo, but also the flesh and blood of the red man. The buffalo represents the universe and the four directions, because he stands on four legs, for the four ages of man. The buffalo was put in the west by Wakan Tanka at the making of the world, to hold back the waters. Every year he loses one hair, and in every one of the four ages he loses a leg. The Sacred Hoop will end when all the hair and legs of the great buffalo are gone, and the water comes back to cover the Earth."
"The wooden stem of this chanunpa stands for all that grows on the earth. Twelve feathers hanging from where the stem – the backbone – joins the bowl – the skull – are from Wanblee Galeshka, the spotted eagle, the very sacred who is the Great Spirit’s messenger and the wisest of all cry out to Tunkashila. Look at the bowl: engraved in it are seven circles of various sizes. They stand for the seven ceremonies you will practice with this pipe, and for the Ocheti Shakowin, the seven sacred campfires of our Lakota nation."
The White Buffalo Woman then addressed the women, emphasizing the vital role they played in sustaining the people. "You are from the mother earth," she said. "What you are doing is as great as what warriors do."
She explained that the sacred pipe was a symbol of unity, binding men and women together in a circle of love. Both men and women had a hand in its creation: men carving the bowl and making the stem, and women decorating it with bands of colored porcupine quills. When a man takes a wife, they both hold the pipe at the same time, and red cloth is wound around their hands, symbolizing their lifelong commitment.
The White Buffalo Woman revealed the contents of her sacred womb bag to her Lakota sisters, offering them corn, wasna (pemmican), and wild turnip. She demonstrated how to make a hearth fire and how to cook the corn and meat by dropping a red-hot stone into a buffalo paunch filled with cold water.
She also spoke to the children, recognizing their inherent understanding and importance. She told them that their parents’ actions were for their benefit, that their parents remembered being little once, and that they, the children, would one day have children of their own. "You are the coming generation," she said, "that’s why you are the most important and precious ones. Some day you will hold this pipe and smoke it. Some day you will pray with it."
She addressed all the people one last time: "The pipe is alive; it is a red being showing you a red life and a red road. And this is the first ceremony for which you will use the pipe. You will use it to Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery Spirit. The day a human dies is always a sacred day. The day when the soul is released to the Great Spirit is another. Four women will become sacred on such a day. They will be the ones to cut the sacred tree, the can-wakan, for the sun dance."
She declared that the Lakota were the purest among the tribes, and for that reason, Tunkashila had entrusted them with the holy chanunpa. They were chosen to safeguard it for all the Indian people on this turtle continent.
In her final words to Standing Hollow Horn, the chief, she said, "Remember: this pipe is very sacred. Respect it, and it will take you to the end of the road. The four ages of creation are in me; I am the four ages. I will come to see you in every generation cycle. I shall come back to you."
The sacred woman bid farewell to the people, saying, "Toksha ake wacinyanitin ktelo, I shall see you again."
As the people watched, she walked off in the direction from which she had come, silhouetted against the red ball of the setting sun. As she journeyed, she stopped and rolled over four times. The first time, she transformed into a black buffalo; the second, into a brown one; the third, into a red one; and finally, the fourth time she rolled over, she became a white female buffalo calf. A white buffalo is considered the most sacred living being one could ever encounter.
The White Buffalo Woman vanished over the horizon, promising to return someday. As soon as she disappeared, vast herds of buffalo appeared, allowing themselves to be killed so that the people might survive. From that day forward, the buffalo became the Lakota’s relatives, providing them with everything they needed: meat for food, skins for clothing and tipis, and bones for tools.
Walking Upright became the first Keeper of the Sacred Pipe. He kept it carefully wrapped, and regularly gathered the people to repeat the lessons taught by the White Buffalo Woman, using it in prayers and ceremonies until he reached the age of over one hundred.
When he grew feeble, he held a great feast and passed the pipe and its teachings to Sunrise, a worthy man. In this manner, the pipe was passed down through generations. Today, Arvol Looking Horse is the pipe keeper of the nineteenth generation.
"As long as the pipe is used," the White Buffalo Woman had said, "your people will live and will be happy. As soon as it is forgotten, the people will perish." The legend serves as a constant reminder of the sacred responsibility that comes with the gift of the pipe and the importance of upholding the Lakota way of life.