No. 292Native North American Traditions

White Buffalo Calf Woman

Ptesáŋwiŋ

Lakota holy woman who brought the sacred pipe and the Seven Sacred Rites

Ptesáŋwiŋ, White Buffalo Calf Woman, is the holy woman of Lakota sacred history. The Lakota are one of the Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires. Devotees tell that she came in a time of hunger, stepping out of a white cloud to meet two scouts and telling them she was wakȟáŋ, sacred. She brought the čhaŋnúŋpa, the sacred pipe, and taught the Seven Sacred Rites (Wicoh'an Wakan Sakowin).

She is honoured as the teacher of right relationship among the people, the buffalo and the earth. On leaving, she became a buffalo that changed colour, ending white, and promised to return at the end of four ages. Her story is carried in oral tradition, and Lakota accounts differ on when she came. Lakota people honour her still. The Aktá Lakota Museum's exhibit The Gift tells of her coming.

See the gallery
White Buffalo Calf Woman
Detail from “Apparition of the Buffalo Calf Maiden” (1959) by Frithjof Schuon, 2023-01-31 09:45:31. Wikimedia Commons (CC0), Frithjof Schuon

How to recognise White Buffalo Calf Woman

  1. White dressShe is a beautiful young woman dressed in white who seems to float as she walks, shown in a plain, long, modest buckskin dress with soft fringe.
  2. White cloudThe two scouts first see her within a white cloud, so a soft white cloud behind her marks her arrival.
  3. White buffalo calfA young bison with a pale cream-white coat, the animal she becomes on leaving and the root of her name.
  4. Four coloursAs she departs she turns black, red-brown, yellow and finally white, though written tellings vary in the order and colours.
  5. Empty handsThe tellings say she carried a wrapped pipe bundle, but the pipe and bundle are sacred, so she is shown without them.
  6. Calm bearingShe is serene, kind and quietly dignified, and is addressed with the respect due to one who is wakȟáŋ.

Names and titles

  • The Sacred White Buffalo WomanThe title used by the Aktá Lakota Museum and St. Joseph's Indian School for her
  • Teacher of the Seven Sacred RitesShe taught the Lakota the seven rites that Black Elk's account records
  • Promised to ReturnShe said she would look in once each of four ages and return at the end
  • A Living PrayerA phrase from tellings of her words to the Lakota about how to walk in life
  • Four Colours of the BuffaloWhen she left she changed from black to red-brown to yellow and finally white

White Buffalo Calf Woman in the shop

Designs of White Buffalo Calf Woman are being drawn: cute, vintage and a painted portrait.

Sources

  1. Aktá Lakota Museum: Seven Sacred Rites
  2. St. Joseph's Indian School: Seven Lakota Rites
  3. Aktá Lakota Museum: Past Exhibits
  4. Mitchell Republic: Story of the Seven Sacred Rites
  5. Aktá Lakota Museum: Wanagi Yuhapi, Keeping of the Soul
  6. Encyclopedia.com: White Buffalo Calf Woman
  7. South Dakota Tribal Relations: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
  8. West River Eagle: Cheyenne River Lakota Elder Honors White Buffalo Calf Pipe Woman
  9. Wikipedia: White Buffalo Calf Woman
  10. Wikipedia: Wóȟpe
  11. Wikipedia: Sun Dance
  12. Project MUSE: Article 896071
  13. National Park Service: Pipestone National Monument
  14. Sacred Land Film Project: Pipestone National Monument
  15. National Park Service: Getaway Pipe
  16. NPS History: Pipestone National Monument Publications
  17. Visit Rapid City: Lakota Nation Invitational
  18. South Dakota Missouri River Tourism: Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Fair, Rodeo and Powwow
  19. Travel South Dakota: Native Powwows and Celebrations
  20. St. Joseph's Indian School: Native American Culture
  21. Wikipedia: Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center
  22. St. Joseph's Indian School: News Article 5853
  23. Mitchell Republic: St. Joseph's Indian School Celebrates Native American Week
  24. VOA News: Reported Birth of Rare White Buffalo Calf
  25. World History Encyclopedia: White Buffalo Calf Woman
  26. World History Encyclopedia: Sioux Ceremonial Pipe
  27. Lakota Religious Traditions (PDF)
  28. Wikipedia: Lakota people
  29. Wikipedia: Wakan Tanka
  30. Wikipedia: Skan
  31. Joseph Epes Brown, The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux (1953)
  32. James R. Walker, Lakota Belief and Ritual (University of Nebraska Press, 1980)
  33. St. Joseph's Indian School Blog: Lakota Culture
  34. Four Bands Community Fund: Cheyenne River Arts and Culture
  35. Explore Minnesota: Pipestone National Monument
  36. Wikipedia: Joseph Epes Brown

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