Native Americans Celebrate Rare White Bison

As many as 2,000 people will converge on a small farm in northwestern Connecticut next week for a naming ceremony for a rare white bison.

Published

10 months ago

Categories

US, Arts & Society, Religion & Society

Topics

Wildlife, History, United States

Places

United States of America, Connecticut

Transcript

As many as two thousand people will converge on a small farm in northwestern Connecticut next week for a naming ceremony for a rare white bison. (July 19) [Location: Goshen, Connecticut] [Location: Washington] [Source: AP] [VO: white bison] FOR MANY NATIVE AMERICANS, THIS WHITE BISON CALF IS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME. IT WAS BORN LAST MONTH ON THE FARM OF PETER FAY. [SOT/Peter Fay, Farmer] "For the Lakota Tribe it's very good. It means great things should happen to all people. Not just them. That's why I invited them out here to name it because it's up to them to do that." AS MANY AS TWO THOUSAND PEOPLE WILL COME TO THIS FARM IN NORTHWESTERN CONNECTICUT NEXT WEEK. THAT'S WHEN ELDERS FROM THE LAKOTA TRIBE WILL GIVE THE CALF A NAME IN AN ELABORATE CEREMONY. CAMERAS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS. THE BIRTH IS VERY RARE AND SOME CONSIDER IT MIRACULOUS. [SOT/Peter Fay, Farmer] "And they say it's one in ten million pretty much." AMONG THE REASONS THIS CALF IS CONSIDERED SO SPECIAL IS BECAUSE IT'S NOT ALBINO, AND NEITHER PARENT WAS A BEEF COW, THOUGH A DNA TEST IS PENDING TO CONFIRM THIS. [SOT/Peter Fay, Farmer] "A real bison white animal will last. They're not crossed with beef cows, so they're not. And he will only be white for a year. He will turn four different colors in his lifetime. And that's what a real bison does. He'll go back to the color of his mom in a few years." 'EMIL HER MANY HORSES' IS A MEMBER OF THE LAKOTA TRIBE AND A SENIOR HISTORIAN AT SMITHSONIAN'S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN IN WASHINGTON. HE SAYS THE WHITE BISON REMINDS MANY LAKOTAS AND OTHER NATIVE AMERICANS OF THEIR ORIGINS. [SOT/Emil Her Many Horses, Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian] "We consider ourselves related to the buffalo because of our origin stories of the buffalo people and I'm sure through this ceremony there will be some relationships made because we feel a stronger relationship, even though we feel the original connection with the buffalo." IN ONE STORY, A WHITE BUFFALO CALF WOMAN GIVES A SACRED PIPE TO THE LAKOTAS DURING A TIME WHEN TRIBES WERE FIGHTING OVER RESOURCES. [SOT/Emil Her Many Horses, Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian] "One of the interpretations of that story was so that the Lakota people would also learn to revere the women. That women were sacred too. So that treatment of women were considered to be an important aspect of life." AT THE FARM, FAY SPENDS A LOT OF TIME TURNING AWAY VISITORS, MOST OF WHOM NEVER GET TO SEE THE ANIMAL. THE WHITE CALF IS NOT VISIBLE FROM THE ROAD, AND HE HAS NO INTENTION OF TURNING IT INTO A TOURIST ATTRACTION. BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP A STEADY STREAM OF PEOPLE FROM TRYING TO CATCH A GLIMPSE. [SOT/Molly Howard, Visitor] "Well I just think it's really cool because like it's something that you don't see everyday. It's an actual thing, it's a special thing you can go see." FAY USUALLY RAISES THE BISON TO SLAUGHTER THEM FOR MEAT. BUT HE SAYS HE HAS NO PLANS TO KILL THE WHITE BISON, AND IS CONCENTRATING ON KEEPING THE ANIMAL SAFE. TED SHAFFREY, ASSOCIATED PRESS, GOSHEN, CONNECTICUT (****END****) ANCHOR VOICE: ------------------------- VIDEO PRODUCER: --------------------------- VIDEO SOURCE: AP ----------------------- VIDEO APPROVAL: ---------------------------- VIDEO RESTRICTIONS: ---------------------------------- MARKET EMBARGO (S): -------------------------------- SCRIPT/WIRE SOURCE: