NA_TheBuffalo.page

Musical Selection:
"Buffalo Dance"
courtesy of:

"Big Chief"
picture courtesy of:

The Buffalo
(ya'-n'-s-si' or yansi)

The buffalo or bison is considered by many tribes to be a symbol of abundance for it was the meat of the buffalo that fed the people, the hides that provided clothing and shelter, the bones and sinew provided tools of survival.

In the Legend of the Sacred Pipe, the White Buffalo Calf Woman gave the Sacred Pipe to the Sioux as a caretaker for the Red Nation. This pipe held the power of the Great Spirit. She brought the people a message of peace and said that they would have a good hunting and turn into a great nation. The Apperance of a white buffalo is a sign that prayers have been heard, and signals a time of abundance plenty.

    "Buffalo Medicine" means to bring a special honor, or appreciation for all of the things that the Earth provides for her children. To use buffalo medicine is to smoke the pipe in a sacred manner, and to give praise for the richness of life to be shared with all.

     If a child's name included the word "buffalo" in it, the Indians believed that the child would be especially strong and would mature quickly. If a warrior was renamed after a vision or great hunting or war accomplishment, and his new name included the word "buffalo", it meant that the buffalo was his supernatural helper, or that he exhibited the strength of a buffalo, or that he was an extraordinary hunter. In other words, the name described the powers of the man.

     Societies named after the buffalo had the animal as their patron. Holy men who saw buffalo in the vision during which they were called to the practice of medicine would seek thereafter to commune with the Great Spirit through the buffalo.