If you talk to the animals
they will talk with you
and you will know each other.
If you do not talk to them
you will not know them,
and what you do not know
you will fear.
What one fears
one destroys.
Chief Dan George
The Buffalo (ya'-n'-s-si' or yansi)
The buffalo or bison is considered by many tribes to
be a symbol of adundance 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 good hunting
and turn into a great nation. The appearance 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 desribed 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.
