The White Buffalo Calf Woman Prophecy is a cornerstone of Lakota spiritual tradition, a sacred narrative passed down through generations, shaping their beliefs, practices, and understanding of the world. This prophecy speaks of a divine messenger who appeared to the Lakota people in a time of great hardship, bringing with her a sacred gift and teachings that would guide them for ages to come.
The story unfolds during a period of immense suffering for the Oceti Shakowin, the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota Nation. The people, gathered in a large encampment, faced starvation as game had become scarce. Scouts were dispatched daily, tirelessly searching for any sign of sustenance, but their efforts proved fruitless. Among the various bands present were the Itazipcho, the Without Bows, led by their chief, Standing Hollow Horn, their situation mirroring the desperation felt throughout the entire nation.
One fateful morning, Standing Hollow Horn sent two young men on a hunting expedition. Traveling on foot, as horses were not yet a part of their culture, they ventured out in search of game. After an exhaustive search yielded nothing, they decided to climb a high hill, hoping to gain a vantage point over the vast landscape. As they ascended, they noticed a figure approaching them from a distance, but its movement was unlike anything they had ever witnessed. The figure appeared to float above the ground, immediately signifying its wakan nature – its sacredness.
Initially, the figure was merely a small, indistinct speck, requiring the young men to squint in order to discern its form. As it drew closer, they realized it was a woman, radiating an ethereal beauty that surpassed anything they had ever imagined. Her cheeks were adorned with two striking, round, red dots of face paint, further emphasizing her extraordinary nature.
The woman was clothed in a magnificent white buckskin outfit, meticulously tanned to a radiant sheen that reflected the sunlight from afar. The garment was intricately embroidered with sacred and wondrous designs of porcupine quill, displaying a vibrant palette of colors that no ordinary woman could have achieved. This wakan stranger was Ptesan-Wi, the White Buffalo Calf Woman, the very embodiment of the prophecy about to unfold.
In her hands, she carried a large bundle, its contents unknown but clearly significant, and a fan crafted from sage leaves, a plant revered for its purifying properties. Her hair, a cascade of blue-black, flowed freely, save for a strand on the left side, carefully bound with buffalo fur. Her eyes shone with a dark, captivating intensity, holding within them a profound power that captivated the two young men.
The two hunters were overwhelmed by her presence. One was filled with reverence and awe, recognizing the sacredness before him. The other, however, succumbed to earthly desires, his thoughts turning to lust as he reached out to touch her.
This act of disrespect towards such a lila wakan, a profoundly sacred being, was met with swift and decisive consequence. Lightning flashed from the sky, instantly striking the brash young man, reducing him to a pile of blackened bones. Another version of the story recounts that he was enveloped in a cloud, within which he was consumed by snakes, leaving behind only his skeleton, a potent metaphor for the destructive power of unchecked lust.
To the remaining scout, the one who had shown respect and humility, the White Buffalo Calf Woman spoke with a voice that resonated with divine authority. "Good things I am bringing, something holy to your nation. 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, humbled and awestruck, returned to the camp with the urgent message. He recounted his encounter to Standing Hollow Horn, the chief, relaying the sacred woman’s instructions.
Standing Hollow Horn, recognizing the significance of the message, instructed the eyapaha, the crier, to spread the word throughout the camp circle. The crier’s voice echoed across the encampment: "Someone sacred is coming. A holy woman approaches. Make all things ready for her."
The people, moved by a sense of anticipation and reverence, immediately began constructing the large medicine tipi, meticulously following the instructions they had received. They waited with bated breath, and after four days, they saw the White Buffalo Calf Woman approaching, carrying her bundle. Her white buckskin dress shimmered in the distance, a beacon of hope and renewal.
Standing Hollow Horn welcomed her into the medicine lodge with the utmost respect. As she entered, she circled the interior in a sunwise direction, a ritual movement symbolizing harmony and balance. The chief addressed her with humility, saying: "Sister, we are glad you have come to instruct us."
The White Buffalo Calf 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 this altar, they were to place a buffalo skull and a three-stick rack, prepared to receive the holy object she was bringing.
The people followed her guidance precisely, and she, in turn, traced a design on the smoothed earth of the altar, demonstrating the proper way to perform the ritual. She then circled the lodge again, moving in the sunwise direction.
Coming to a stop before the chief, she opened the sacred bundle, revealing its contents: the chanunpa, the sacred pipe, a symbol of unity, prayer, and connection to the divine.
The White Buffalo Calf Woman held the pipe out for all to see, grasping the stem with her right hand and the bowl with her left, a tradition that continues to this day.
Standing Hollow Horn, acknowledging the scarcity of resources, said: "Sister, we are glad. We have had no meat for some time. All we can give you is water."
They dipped wacanga, sweet grass, into a skin bag of water and offered it to her. This act established a tradition, still practiced, where sweet grass or an eagle wing is dipped in water and sprinkled on a person to purify them.
The White Buffalo Calf Woman then taught the people how to use the pipe. She filled it with chan-shasha, red willow-bark tobacco, a sacred offering. She walked around the lodge four times, following the path of Anpetu Wi, the great sun, representing the circle without end, the sacred hoop, the road of life.
She placed a dry buffalo chip on the fire and used it to light the pipe, creating peta-owihankeshini, the fire without end, the flame to be passed down through generations. She explained that the smoke rising from the bowl was Tunkashila’s breath, the living breath of the Great Grandfather Mystery.
The White Buffalo Calf Woman instructed the people on the proper way to pray, sharing the right words and gestures. She taught them the pipe-filling song and how to lift the pipe up to the sky, towards Tunkashila, Grandfather, and down towards 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."
She continued, "Look at this bowl. 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."
She explained that the wooden stem of the chanunpa represents all that grows on the earth, and the twelve feathers attached where the stem joins the bowl are from Wanblee Galeshka, the spotted eagle, the Great Spirit’s messenger and the wisest of all who cry out to Tunkashila.
She pointed out the seven circles engraved on the bowl, representing the seven ceremonies to be practiced with the pipe and the Ocheti Shakowin, the seven sacred campfires of the Lakota nation.
The White Buffalo Calf Woman then addressed the women, acknowledging the crucial 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. And therefore the sacred pipe is also something that binds men and women together in a circle of love. It is the one holy object in the making of which both men and women have a hand. The men carve the bowl and make the stem; the women decorate 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, thus tying them together for life."
She revealed the contents of her sacred womb bag to her Lakota sisters, showing them corn, wasna (pemmican), and wild turnip. She taught them how to make the hearth fire, filling a buffalo paunch with cold water and dropping a red-hot stone into it, saying, "This way you shall cook the corn and the meat."
The White Buffalo Calf Woman also spoke to the children, recognizing their innate understanding. She emphasized that their parents’ actions were for their benefit, and that they, in turn, would grow up to 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, saying: "The pipe is alive; it is a red being showing. You have 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 pray 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 told the Lakota that they were the purest among the tribes, and that Tunkashila had bestowed upon them the holy chanunpa because they were chosen to care for it for all the Indian people on the turtle continent.
Speaking one last time to Standing Hollow Horn, the chief, the White Buffalo Calf Woman 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."
With the parting words, "Toksha ake wacinyanitin ktelo, I shall see you again," the sacred woman departed. The people watched as she walked in the direction from which she had come, silhouetted against the setting sun.
As she journeyed away, the White Buffalo Calf Woman 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 turned into a white female buffalo calf.
The white buffalo, a symbol of profound sacredness, is considered the most sacred living thing one could encounter. The White Buffalo Calf Woman disappeared over the horizon, and as soon as she vanished, great herds of buffalo appeared, allowing themselves to be hunted so that the people might survive. From that day forward, the buffalo provided the Lakota with everything they needed: meat for food, skins for clothing and tipis, and bones for tools.