Excerpt from a Speech to the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

January 1995: The Netherlands

by Chief Arvol Looking Horse,

19th Generation Keeper of the original Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe

http://www.worldpeaceday.com/2000/miracle.html

Hau Kola, my name is Arvol Looking Horse, my Lakota name is Horse Man. I humbly stand before you as Keeper of the Sacred Pipe, which White Buffalo Calf Woman brought 19 generations ago. Wakan Tanka, Great Spirit, created everything upon mother earth. Paha Sapa, the Sacred Black Hills in South Dakota, is where our spiritual power and identity flows, the heart of everything that is. Our stories tell us that our ancestors emerged from the place we now know as Wind Cave. Many of our stories and Star Knowledge inform our way of life.

A prophecy which has great significance for us is the story of the Great Flood which came to this sacred island [North America] long before the contact with the Europeans. A flood was sent to purify mother Earth and our people were residing in an area we now call Pipestone, Minnesota. This sacred stone [pipestone] represents the blood of our ancestors.

It was some time after the flood that the Sacred Pipe was brought to our people by a spirit woman who we now refer to as the White Buffalo Calf Woman. She instructed our people in sacred ceremonies and how to live in balance with all life.

"The bowl of the pipe is made of the Inyansa (red stone of our mother) and it also represents the female. The stem of the pipe is made of wood and represents the tree of life and the male. The tree of life represents the root of our ancestors, as this tree grows so does the spirit of ancestors people. The only time the pipe is put together is when you are in prayer."

After she had given these instructions to our ancestors, she said she would return as a White Buffalo Calf.

Our prophet Black Elk said the Nation's Sacred Hoop was broken at the Massacre of Wounded Knee in 1890. To begin mending the hoop we have led a spiritual ride to wipe the Tears of the Seventh Generation from 1986 to 1990. The Nation's Hoop has begun to heal and mend. The prophecy tells us the White Buffalo Calf will return.

In August of 1994, a White Buffalo Female Calf was born [in Wisconsin]. This tells us it is time to take our rightful place in leading the people towards Peace and Balance once again. We will be strong and the people will heal. Our healing is global.

On June 21st of 1996 we will return to the Sacred Black Hills to pray for world peace. We will pray for the return of our holy land. We will pray for the two-legged, four-legged and winged ones, and for mother Earth. We ask you to pray with us. Indigenous nations know our earth is suffering. Humanity is heading towards total chaos and destruction, that is both a scientific and spiritual fact. The new millennium will make harmony or the end of life as we know it.

Starvation, war and toxic waste have been the mark of the Great Myth of Progress and Development. As caretakers of the heart of mother Earth it is our responsibility to tell our brothers and sisters to seek peace.

We ask every Nation to declare June 21 World Peace and Prayer Day. Pray at this time with us from your sacred areas, churches, temples and mosques, pray for the seventh generation to have world Peace and harmony. This is the message I bring to you, may Peace be with you all.

Mitakuye Oyasin, Arvol Looking Horse

Looking Horse Family, Keepers Of Original Lakota Sacred Pipe

First published September 13, 1994 - Copyright 1994

by Neal White and the Beloit (Wisconsin) Daily News

Third of three parts - By Neal White, City Editor

Janesville, WI - For 18 generations, Arvol’s family had served as the protector of both the future and the past.

It was his grandmother's final dream in life to see that responsibility become his. He was only 12-years-old when that trust was passed down from her deathbed.

Twenty-eight years later in rural Janesville, Dr. Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Sacred Pipe, 19th generation, watched his family's destiny unfold.

Centuries ago, the spirit of the White Buffalo Calf Woman came to the Lakota Sioux and presented them with a sacred pipe, which was to be used to bring peace to the warring nations. The elders of the different nations gathered and smoked from the pipe.

While there was harmony, it was told that dissension would return. After many years of discord and destruction, the spirit of the White Buffalo Calf Woman would return, and the nations would be joined once again.

Since that time, members of the Looking Horse family, based in Pine Fork, S.D., have been entrusted with the protection of the sacred pipe.

On Monday, in a farm yard pasture in rural Janesville, Looking Horse brought out the sacred pipe as a white buffalo calf danced on the hill behind him.

The second coming had arrived.

"The prophesies are being fulfilled up to this point. We are starting to see a coming together of people going back to their natural ways,'' said Looking Horse, as he prepared for unification ceremony.

The gathering, which drew elders from several tribes across North America, was held in honor of the white buffalo calf born Aug. 20, on David and Valerie Heider's exotic animal farm.

Squatting down in the shade of lone fence post, Looking Horse explained that in these times, the white buffalo calf ``is like an oasis of divine intervention coming up from Mother Earth.''

"The things the elders have talked about for so long, now we can identify with what we have been taught,'' he said. ``We are given this time to strengthen each other. This is an important time in history.''

Pausing, trying to find the words in English, he said it was during the 1890s, when the buffalo was nearly driven to extinction and the Indians were placed on Reservations, the elders began praying for the white calf to return.

"It would be seven generations before we could talk about our way of life again,'' Looking Horse said.

The sacred hoop of nations had been broken at Wounded Knee, (S.D.) "The spirit of the buffalo had ended, and with it, a way of life,'' he added.

The Lakota, as other tribes, only killed the buffalo for food and clothing. Nothing was wasted. The warrior who killed the buffalo drank its blood, capturing its spirit.

Like the buffalo, Looking Horse explained the Lakota stood into the wind, regardless of how cold it was. When the buffalo was gone, the Lakota were forced to eat cattle, which stands with its rear to the wind.

"Our elders say that's why our way of life is backwards now,'' he said, smiling for the first time. "This is the seventh generation. The time has come to set things right.''

In 1990, Looking Horse said the spirit of the buffalo came back, but only after four years of walking, and of mending.

"In 1987, '88, '89 and '90, we took the same route as Chief Big Foot took to Wounded Knee trying to mend the hoop,'' he said. "In 1990, the elders confirmed the spirit had returned. They were preparing for the prophecy to flourish.''

Since that time, Looking Horse said a lot of young people have come back to their traditional heritage.

"People are overwhelmed. The kids know something is happening. We're doing a lot of healing,'' he added.

"We are starting to see an awareness of the prophesies,'' Looking Horse said. "I want to bring this awareness to the people and tell them what is important: Values and tradition.

"Today there is so much confusion. Kids have lost their identity. We've got to unite as a nation (of all people),'' he added. "But you have to respect yourself first before you can relate to others as a nation.''

Pointing his finger out over the horizon, Looking Horse said the healing needs to go beyond the Indian nations, but all people, of all races. That, he said, is part of his destiny.