> White buffalo calf is named
>   
>   JAMESTOWN �?The white calf born to the albino
> buffalo White Cloud at the National Buffalo Museum
> Aug. 31 was officially named Dakota Miracle Tuesday.
>
>  
>   The name, submitted by Tom and Linda Ray of
> Jamestown, was one of 1,374 names suggested during
> the contest, which ended Nov. 30. The names came
> from 27 states, Germany and Canada. Although the
> museum received some names numerous times, Dakota
> Miracle was the only one of its kind submitted.
>   “The two most popular names, with about 60
> submissions each, were White Lightning and White
> Thunder,�?said museum director Felicia Sargeant.  Ray said he and his wife felt that having one white buffalo was a rarity, but the birth of a second white buffalo to the albino White Cloud was indeed a miracle. Sargeant said the last known albino buffalo before her died in 1959,
> and although Dakota Miracle has yet to be tested, he
> has the pink eyes of an albino.
>  
>   “She’s (White Cloud) the only living albino in the
> world,�?Sargeant said. “Dakota Miracle is probably
> albino or he would have started changing color when
> he got his winter coat.�?
>   Through the month of December, Sargeant said, the
> five Naming Contest Committee members sorted through
> the many suggestions. Each picked five names, which
> then were whittled down to about nine and those were
> sent to Daniel and Jean Shirek, White Cloud’s
> owners, to choose the name. Among those up for
> consideration were Dakota Spirit, Little Cloud, Hail
> Storm, Prairie Smoke and Snow Dancer.
>   “It was entertaining and creative. Many of the
> names were very creative so it was extremely
> difficult to choose five let alone one,�?said Nina
> Sneider, director of the Buffalo City Tourism
> Foundation, who was one of the five members of the
> naming committee.
>   A second white buffalo in the museum herd has more
> meaning than just as an incalculable rarity. The
> white buffalo is sacred to many Indian tribes.
> Sneider said she had been told of at least one
> Native American who was moving back to North Dakota
> “because of the significance of two white
> buffaloes.�?
>   In the Lakota story of the white buffalo and White
> Buffalo Calf Woman, the coming of the white buffalo
> is a prophecy.
>   “The legend talks about balance,�?Sneider said.
> “The Higher Power sends a white buffalo when the
> world is out of balance. The white buffalo comes to
> bring back balance.�?BR>>   Tex Weatherly, president of the North Dakota
> Buffalo Foundation, said earlier Tuesday that he
> took a Cherokee medicine man from Bozeman, Mont.,
> into the winter pasture to see the mother and son a
> few weeks ago.
>   “He did his ritual and hung up trinkets on the
> fence,�?Weatherly said. “We have a lot of Native
> Americans come to do their thing. We try to
> accommodate them on trips down to see the buffalo.�?
>   Weatherly feeds the buffalo weekly when they’re in
> the winter pasture. He’s been the chief handler
> since the herd began at the museum in 1991. They’re
> not domesticated and generally they graze on grass.
> How-ever, to remain healthy through the winter, when
> snow covers the pasture grass, they need to be fed.
>   “They stay in much better shape,�?he said and
> reported on Dakota Miracle’s weathering of the
> winter. “The calf has a good hair coat and is in
> great shape.�?BR>>   The herd will be moved to the summer pasture
> nearer the museum around Memorial Day. That’s when
> they’ll try to get a few tail hairs from Dakota
> Miracle to send out for DNA testing to find out if,
> like his mother, he is an albino.
>   
>   Toni Pirkl, The Jamestown Sun
> Published Wednesday, January 09, 2008