Rare white bison, linked to Native American prophecy, born in Yellowstone; photos go viral

A photographer has captured what is being described as 'mind-blowing' images of a rare white bison born in Yellowstone National Park in the US. Erin Braaten, a photographer from Montana, captured the images on June 4, the day the calf was born, while visiting the Lamar Valley section of the park.

Something really white??

Her family was visiting the park and their vehicle was stuck in traffic due to the herd crossing the road when she spotted “something really white” among the bison across the Lamar River.

“I look and it's this white bison calf. And I was just totally, totally floored,” she said.

Also read:?Woman Gets Dangerously Close To Bison, Plays Dead To Escape Attack

AP

According to Braaten, she and her family watched the calf and its mother for 30 to 45 minutes.

“And then she kind of led it through the willows there,” Braaten said. Although Braaten came back each of the next two days, she didn't see the white calf again.

Significance of white bison calf

Reports of the birth of the white bison calf have also excited the local Native American communities. According to members of the Lakota community, the birth of the white bison calf portends better times ahead.

Also read:?Is Birth Of This Red Calf A Sign Of The End Of Times? Jewish Astrologers Think So

AP

“The birth of this calf is both a blessing and a warning. We must do more,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Oyate in South Dakota, and the 19th keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Woman Pipe and Bundle.

As significant as Jesus's second coming?

For the Lakota, the birth of a white buffalo calf with a black nose, eyes, and hooves is akin to the second coming of Jesus Christ, Looking Horse said.

Lakota Mail

Legend of white bison calf

Lakota legend says about 2,000 years ago — when nothing was good, food was running out, and bison were disappearing — White Buffalo Calf Woman appeared, presented a bowl pipe and a bundle to a tribal member, taught them how to pray, and said that the pipe could be used to bring buffalo to the area for food. As she left, she turned into a white buffalo calf.

“And someday when the times are hard again,” Looking Horse said in relating the legend, “I shall return and stand upon the earth as a white buffalo calf, black nose, black eyes, black hooves.”

AP

A similar white buffalo calf was born in Wisconsin in 1994 and was named Miracle, he said.

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