There’s a one in ten million chance of having a white bison calf. So when leaders of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa heard they were getting a white buffalo, community members gathered for the special event.

“We got some animals coming back,” said Fischer’s Bar 33 Bison Ranch owner Ernie Fischer. Ernie Fischer filmed this exciting hand over at Fischer’s Bar 33 Bison Ranch. Fischer is loaning his white bison to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

“Just the fact that we have [a white bison] we can share with other Native Americans, just very special,” said Beverly Fischer.

Murton Gillis is the buffalo manager for Turtle Mountain. He told Ernie he couldn’t believe his tribe is getting a white buffalo.

“I said: ‘yes, we would want that right away’ I can’t believe it,” said Gillis. “We’re ready Tom!” yelled Fischer.

A white buffalo holds significant culture importance to the tribes. It’s believed the animal will bring hope, healing and good times ahead. When the buffalo arrived crowds gathered to get a glimpse of the rare animal.

“People that never seen it before thought it was a myth, like a unicorn they told us. We actually have one now and they’re like: ‘We can’t believe that was real and we only heard about it through books’,” said Gillis.

The community honored the buffalo with a drum ceremony. Jeff DesJarlais said it could boost the city’s tourism.

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (Ojibwe language: Mikinaakwajiw-ininiwag) is a Native American tribe of Ojibwa and Métis peoples, based on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. The tribe has 30,000 enrolled members. A population of 5,815 reside on the main reservation and another 2,516 reside on off-reservation trust land.

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