|
A
white bison at the farm of Peter Fay in Goshen, Conn. The birth of the
bull calf a month ago drew attention from some as an auspicious event. |
Very, very exciting news indeed! I feel as though this creature
has not only been born, it has returned to the once-sacred land of the Native
American tribes of Connecticut (Quinnehtukqut). It is a great moment on the planet as the
bison calf is a highly auspicious omen. We were promised that they would
come back, and here is wonderful proof of prophecy fulfilled! And I am
personally proud because I am from Connecticut, so this event takes on a deeper
meaning for me. Additionally, in a prescient move by lawmakers, "Less than a month before this bison
was born, the National Bison Legacy Act was introduced in the Senate. The act
would designate the American bison as the 'National Mammal of the United
States.' It has 15 co-sponsors,
including the two senators from Connecticut..." This is a sweet, sweet moment and one I hope will
reverberate with joy and light for our nation and the rest of the world. -S.C.-
Thanks to Marilyn
A Bison So Rare It’s Sacred
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).
Mr. Fay, who has an elaborate bison
tattoo on his right shoulder and another above his heart, comes from four
generations of dairy farmers and makes his living through an excavating and
rock-crushing business. He began raising bison as a hobby four years ago,
capitalizing on a growing appetite for bison as a leaner alternative to beef,
and then became increasingly excited about the animals, building his herd to
more than 40 until he sold off about half of them two months ago.
“They’re awesome animals, wild, not
domesticated,” Mr. Fay said. “You think of them in South Dakota, where it’s a
desert and hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter. They don’t mind
either one. And they don’t get sick. They’re not like a cow. They’re very
hardy. They can deal with anything.”
Mr. Fay, 53, said he was watching a
female preparing to give birth on June 16 when he realized a second one was
about to give birth as well.
“I was watching and watching and
when the second one hit the ground, it was white,” Mr. Fay said. “I don’t know
if you’ve ever seen an animal born, but they’re wet. So you don’t see much
until the mom dries it off, but once it stood up to nurse, and it was right
next to the other one, it looked like a ghost.”
Mr. Fay said his Indian friends had
told him that a white bison was considered the most sacred thing imaginable —
its birth viewed as something like the Second Coming.
Mr. Fay said he carefully researched
the bloodlines of the calf’s mother and father, and he is confident the animal
is all bison without any intermingling with cattle. But to be certain, he has
sent its DNA for testing. Keith Aune, senior conservation scientist with the
Wildlife Conservation Society, said some white bison are albinos and have
difficulty thriving in the wild because they lack the black skin that absorbs
sunlight during harsh winters.
Mrs. White Mouse, a member of the
Oglala Lakota people, said a white bison was believed to be a manifestation of
the White Buffalo Calf Maiden, or Ptesan Wi. She is revered as a prophet, who
in a time of famine taught the Lakotas seven sacred rituals and gave them their
most important symbol of worship, the sacred pipe.
“They are very rare, and when a
white bison is born there is a reason for each one to be here,” Mrs. White
Mouse said. “It’s such a blessing for someone to take care of a bison like
Peter Fay will. I told him when it was born, ‘You don’t even know what you have
on your hands here.’ ”
Mr. Fay said he was getting the
idea, and being very careful. A white bison in Texas was slaughtered a year ago
in what some believed could be an anti-Indian hate crime. Mr. Fay said either
he or someone else watched the field day and night. He said that he was
prepared for what could be four days of festivities, with the naming ceremony
scheduled for July 28, and that he had no interest in selling the bison.
Experts have said one in 10 million
bison are white, but a few other white bison births in recent years suggest the
rate is somewhat higher.
There were once perhaps 40 million
bison roaming wild in the United States. They were hunted to near extinction
and have had something of a resurgence both because of conservation efforts in
the West and commercial demand; there are now about 500,000 in the country.
Less than a month before this bison
was born, the National Bison Legacy Act was introduced in the Senate. The act
would designate the American bison as the “National Mammal of the United
States.” (There has never been a national mammal.) It has 15 co-sponsors,
including the two senators from Connecticut, and an upbeat Web site, votebison.org, though its prospects for passage
are unclear.
Mr. Fay said he believed the Indian
teachings about the animals, though he found it hard to tie the birth to any
one event.
Still, he said: “I think it’s not
coincidence that all this stuff is happening. The more you get involved with
Native Americans, the more you see it’s a good thing that it’s happening. The
country is now in pretty sad shape, so you never know what can help. But for
now, I’m just trying to learn about it.”
Congratulations to all on the birth of this beautiful calf.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for Mr@ Mrs Fay for the wonderful birth of their bison calf May all he see it will feel the gift that has been given May all Americans @ Idians always have love light and Peace
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