SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — As a blizzard moved through western KELOLAND earlier this week, a bison calf joined the herd at Custer State Park.

In this week’s Flashback Friday, we take you back to 1996 and introduce you to a white buffalo calf born on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

A sharp-colored contrast to the rest of the herd, this silvery-grey calf is the rarest of a rare breed. It’s believed to be the first white buffalo ever born on an Indian Reservation.

“I don’t know what happened, it’s just fortunate that way. We’ve got him and we’re happy to have him. Hope it benefits a lot of other people.”

White buffalos are sacred symbols to Native Americans, dating back to the ancient legend of the White Buffalo Calf Woman, who taught them how to live virtuous lives. Many see this two and half-month-old calf as a sacred sign with a global impact.

“It was a sign to get out act together and unite. And after we united our nation, then after that maybe we could unite the United States, and then the world.”

But skeptics have raised the possibility that this white buffalo is only a cross-breed, a so-called “beefalo.” Another white calf of Merrivile’s died in April.

Just released DNA tests show that calf was a purebred.

“Cause we had no cattle in with the buffalo.”

Merrivile hopes his white calf will become a major tourist attraction, and turn the doubters into believers.

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