For Indians the return of the buffalo means more than economic progress; it is a spiritual connection to their past. Many see the birth of the white buffalo calf on the Heiders' farm as a portentous symbol of this connection. And, in a sense, Miracle could also be seen as a symbol of the emerging identity of the New West. Her birth brought bison to the forefront of public attention. Bison ranching, an industry born of a species saved from extinction, is growing and prospering. Bison are a resurgence of the Old West that may well be shaping the future of the New West.
I think back to a story an archaeologist friend of mine told me. A few years ago, he and his wife were in the backyard of their home in Washington, D.C., conducting archaeological experiments. They were cutting bison bones with stone tools and examining the kinds of marks the tools made. A neighbor boy was looking over the fence at their obviously weird behavior, and he asked what the bones were. "Buffalo," they replied. The boy shook his head. "No they're not," he said. "Buffalo are extinct."
In the next decade or so, no child will make that statement. Not only are bison not extinct, they are making a comeback. Chances are, a few years from now, that same boy will be ordering a buffalo burger to go with his milk shake and fries.
CHAPTER SIX: RETURN TO THE HEIDERS' FARM
A lot has changed on the Heiders' farm in the two years since the birth of Miracle, but in many ways things are the same. A welcoming committee of cats still greets people on the front porch, and the dogs, both inside the house and out, still keep an eye on strangers. Ducks, geese, and chickens have the run of the yard, as usual. Dave and Val look the same, and the family and neighbors still pitch in when needed to help them cope with all the visitors who continue to visit the farm to see Miracle. Dave and Val have adjusted to all the changes, for they know that their life will never be the same as it was before the small white buffalo calf was born. At first, they dreaded all of the people, Val told me, and missed the daily routines of their lives. Now, when it's too quiet, they get bored.
I returned to the farm on a cold, snowy day in early November 1996. After having doughnuts and hot tea at the kitchen table, Val and I walked up to the new gift shop and museum major change from two years ago. The gift shop isn't large, just a couple of hundred square feet of cement slab with aluminum walls and roof. It's the kind of simple yet functional building that blends into a working farm.
Doris, Val's mother, smiled at us from behind the counter. Display cases held Miracle sweatshirts and T-shirts, coffee mugs, and lapel pins. A large bronze sculpture of Miracle and her mother sat atop a case near the middle of the room. The price tag read $4,500the most expensive piece in the room. Other cases held the widest selection of buffalo jewelry, fetishes, and carvings that I had ever seen in one place. Although most of the items were commercially manufactured, a good number of pieces were handcrafted by Indian artisans.
Alongside the sales floor is the museum, an alcove set aside to display some of the thousands of offerings, gifts, and tokens left behind by the people who have come to see Miracle. From the very beginning, people left all kinds of things on the gate to the buffalo pasture (Color Plate 13). When the gate became so crowded with offerings that no more would fit, the Heiders removed it and put up a new one. In the two years since Miracle's birth, seven gates have been covered with offerings. The Heiders decided to keep the gates and offerings intact. As each one filled, they unhinged it, wrapped it in plastic, and stored it in the barn. The very first gate is on display in the museum.
Many of the objects left on the gate are related to American Indian tradition. There are pipes, arrowheads, and feathers among the wide assortment of offerings. All sizes and styles of medicine bags hang from the fence gate. Some are plain leather, others are fringed, and still others are embellished with fancy bead-work. The contents of each bag are known only to the person who left it, though the bags usually contain items imbued with spiritual, magical, or healing powers.
Tobacco is a traditional gift in Indian culture, and in a nod to modern times, people have left packs of cigarettes at the gate. Indian jewelry adorns the fence a few old pieces of silver and turquoise mixed with more contemporary styles. There are beaded necklaces and earrings, as well as ones made of bone and porcupine quills. Strips of cloth in the sacred colors yellow, blue, red, and white are knotted together and tied to the fencing. Even more common are dream catchers, rawhide webs that purportedly let good dreams through and capture bad dreams in their snares. I saw a military-style shoulder patch with tribal insignia and the words "Red Thunder." A dark-skinned, big-eyed plastic doll wearing a beaded buckskin dress has a note attached to her that reads, "To Pte Ska Winyele and our Miracle," left by a woman who had traveled from Ontario to see the white buffalo.
Poems, written by people of all ages and backgrounds, have been left behind for others to read or perhaps for no one to read. Brief notes thanking Miracle for coming into the world are folded and placed in cracks in the fence posts. There are buffalo nickels and Indian head pennies. Many of the personal items likely have a spiritual connection known only to the people who left them, such as the World War II Marine Corps medal I noticed in one of the museum cases. There are Egyptian scarabs, crystals, and polished stones of different kinds. Some items seem to defy explanation; one man left the title for a Chevy pickup truck. Another fellow didn't have anything to leave, so he helped Dave unload two wagons of hay.
The Heiders themselves have been given gifts, from Indians and non-Indians alike. They have received more than a dozen wool blankets from various tribes, as well as beautiful ribbon shirts and many fine examples of custom-made Indian jewelry. A piece of turquoise, as large as a fist and wrapped in the four sacred colors, arrived by mail. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, visited the farm and personally presented Dave with a delicate white silk scarf.
The Heiders have received numerous pieces of art depicting buffalo particularly Miracle rendered in bone, plaster, stone, and various other media. One of my favorites is a shiny silver buffalo in a globe of water. When shaken, silver sparkles shower down on the buffalo. It's just like the snow globes I had as a little boy.
Although some of the gifts are of museum quality, others fall into the category of kitsch, such as the bright red tie with a white buffalo that seems to cry out for a loud sport coat. The crew of Unsolved Mysteries gave out souvenir ball caps and lapel pins when they came to film. I wondered if Dave and Val had ever worn them.
For nearly two hours, Val and her father, Jerry, gave me a tour of the many items displayed in the cases and attached to the gate. They told me stories associated with particular pieces. Although some were funny, most of the stories were serious, even tragic. As I was looking at the many items, I noticed two children's toys covered with soot. Jerry suggested to Val that she tell me the story of the toys. But she couldn't; it touched her too deeply. Jerry told me the sad story instead.
A woman had brought the two toys, a little white teddy bear and a Bert doll, of Bert and Ernie fame from Sesame Street.