A Bison So Rare It’s Sacred

[MindMover]

GOSHEN, Conn. — If one were asked to pick a typical home where the buffalo roam, the answer probably would not be Litchfield County amid the rolling hills and understated rural chic of Northwest Connecticut.

But when Bison No. 7 on Peter Fay’s farm gave birth to a white, 30-pound bull calf a month ago, it made the Fay farm below Mohawk Mountain, for the moment at least, the unlikely epicenter of the bison universe.

For Mr. Fay, what happened was an astoundingly unexpected oddity — white bison are so rare that each birth is viewed as akin to a historic event.

For Marian White Mouse of Wanblee, S.D., and other American Indians, it is a supremely auspicious message from the spirits. She will fly with her family to Connecticut for naming ceremonies at the end of the month that are expected to draw large crowds.

And for those to whom the bison is an iconic part of the American experience, the birth is, at the least, a remarkable coincidence, coming at a time that wildlife, tribal and producer groups are lobbying Congress to have the bison officially designated as the national mammal and a national symbol alongside the bald eagle. (The words buffalo and bison are often used interchangeably, but the North American version is properly called bison and its distant cousins in Asia and Africa are buffaloes).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/nyregion/sacred-white-bison-is-born-in-rural-connecticut.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. - isn't it sad that I have to think...

Now, if somebody doesn't shoot it.

[robinlynne]

4. The owner is protecting it. but I dont know about his mother.......

[NYC_SKP]

2. Beautiful!

[roguevalley]

3. I am glad for Native America. This is a holy moment.

[madmom]

5. Many years ago, on a trip out west, we had the

extreme pleasure of seeing two white bison. Don't know if they were twins, but both about the same age and with the same "mother".

[mikekohr]

7. Bison crossbred with certain cattle will produce "White" calves.

These are not the "White Buffalo" spoke of in Native American spirituality. I believe the odds of a true "White Buffalo" are 1/10,000,000.

[madmom]

9. These were white bison. The town had a write up in the paper and

everything. I just can't remember the name of the town. It was somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico. It was too long ago for me to remember.

[nolabear]

6. This is so wonderful. A good omen, at a good time.

There was another that was very recently killed by, I think, poachers. That this calf's birth should follow so soon is wonderful in every way.

[Historic NY]

8. Bison are such a majestic animal, the "white calf" is "big medicine"....

an omen it gives a sense of hope and renewal.