White Buffalo Woman
The White Buffalo Woman ( Whope ; also: White Buffalo Calf Woman - " White Buffalo Woman ") is a mythical figure of the Indian tribes Lakota and Dakota and was adopted in the stories of other peoples. She is a so-called culture bringer . She is venerated as the daughter of Wi and the wife of the south wind.
The myth is told in different ways. What they have in common is that two brothers who were hunting near the Black Hills at Devils Tower saw a beautiful woman approaching them. One of the brothers was sexually aggressive, after which he was killed by a lightning strike. She instructed the others to announce their arrival at the camp and prepare the tribe. White Buffalo Woman came to the camp after four days and taught the people how to use the sacred pipe and sacred rites . When she left the village, she turned into a white bison calf .
In the probably original version, as told by the Lakota, the reason for the story was that the bison had disappeared and the people not only lacked food, but also the leather for tents and clothing, sinews for the bows and other cords . White Buffalo Woman brought people the Seven Lakota Rites , including the Sun Dance , the Vision Quest, and the Sweat Lodge . When she turned into the buffalo calf, the bison came back and the humans were saved.
The White Buffalo Cow Society of the Mandan and Hidatsa draws on the myth of the white buffalo woman . With their buffalo-calling dance, this women's society had the religious task of ensuring that the bison herds would return in the coming year.
literature
- White Buffalo Woman. In: Dawn E. Bastian, Judy K. Mitchell: Handbook of Native American Mythology. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara CA et al. 2004, ISBN 1-85109-533-0 , pp. 217-220.
Individual evidence
- ↑ State Historical Society of North Dakota: Societies of the Hidasta and the Mandan ( Memento of the original from March 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , North Dakota Studies
