THIS is a Native American story which I have only heard being told once. But it left a powerful impression on me, and this week I share this tale as part of my series of tales from around the world.

Before I do so however, I must give honour to the culture from which this story comes. It is a story from the Lakota people, who were part of the indigenous people of what is now the USA.

The Lakota were part of the Great Sioux Nation who lived on the plains of North America. What is left of their Reservation is mostly in South Dakota, a small remnant of their tribal lands which were systematically stolen by the white man.

This story is part of Lakota culture, tradition, and belief. So I re-tell it with acknowledgement and respect to that tradition. The original tale is much longer and far more elaborate, and the words of the Lakota language are spelt incorrectly here because my computer doesn’t have the required characters. But here it is:

Long ago, in the days before the Lakota people had horses to hunt, there was a great famine on the plains.

The people were starving. So the chief summoned two warriors.

“You are the greatest hunters of the tribe,” he told the young men. “You must venture onto the plains and find the buffalo. Our people depend on you.”

The two warriors searched the landscape but could find no sign of the buffalo. So they climbed up a rocky crag to get a better view.

In the distance they saw an animal. It was moving in tall grass, but the haze of the sun and the distance meant they could not see which kind of animal it was.

They screwed their eyes and then looked at each other in astonishment.

“It is a white buffalo!” they said to each other; an incredibly rare animal, and considered sacred. They clambered from the rocks and carefully approached the creature. But as they got nearer they realised it wasn’t a buffalo at all.

It was a woman dressed in white buffalo skin. She was young and very beautiful.

One of the warriors spoke with reverence: “that is the White Buffalo Calf Woman” he said in a soft whisper. He recognised her as a sacred being, and that her presence was a good omen.

But the second warrior saw her differently. He looked at her, not with eyes of reverence and respect, but with desire and lust.

He rushed towards her, menacingly. The first warrior was shocked by this.

“You must not approach her or touch her,” he called out, “she is sacred”.

But his friend was not listening. He was driven by his desire.

“I will possess her and then make her my wife,” he said defiantly.

The woman watched as the warrior approached her. She could see he had desire in his eyes and would use force to get what he wanted.

When he reached her she held her arms out for an embrace. The warrior smirked and looked back briefly in triumph to his friend who was keeping a respectful distance.

The woman then wrapped her arms around the warrior covering them both with her buckskin. Suddenly both figures vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

The other warrior stood bewildered as he watched the smoke swirl around where his friend and the woman stood. Gradually the smoke began to disperse.

The woman was standing as before, but the disrespectful warrior was gone. His charred and burnt bones lay in a heap at the feet of the woman.

The other warrior was horrified. He began to run away, fearful that he too may meet the same fate.

But the woman called out to him.

“Do not fear,” she said. “I am indeed White Buffalo Calf Woman. That man had greed and violent desire in his heart. But you have respected me. I will not harm you.”

The warrior stopped running and turned round. She spoke to him.

“Your people are in trouble. I have come to show you how you can help yourselves. Do as I say and your people will prosper and thrive.”

And so the warrior listened as the woman gave him instructions what to do.

The warrior then ran towards his village and when he arrived he told the story of what had happened as soon as he regained his breath.

“She told me we must build a lodge in her name, big enough to hold everyone in the tribe,” he said. “Then she will come in four days to explain to us what we must do.”

And so the entire village set to work and the lodge was completed.

A white buffalo approached the village on the fourth day. Then the buffalo transformed into a woman wrapped in a white cloak of buffalo skin. This was White Buffalo Calf Woman.

She gave the Lakota people seven ceremonies by which they should live their lives. She spoke to them about the endless circle of life, how all things are connected, and the sacredness of the earth.

Then she gave them the chanunpa. This was a sacred pipe. It was long and slender, beautifully carved and decorated with feathers.

She showed how to use it, and explained that using it in ceremonies called on Tunkashilia, the grandfather, and the wisdom of the Great Spirit.

After all this, White Buffalo Calf Woman spoke her final words.

“I have taught you the ways, and given you the sacred pipe,” she said. “Use them well, and your people will prosper. I will return one day to help restore the balance of the world. The birth of a white buffalo will be a sign of this.”

And so she left the people, and as she walked away she transformed back into a white buffalo and vanished into the vastness of the landscape.

Soon afterwards the buffalo returned, giving the Lakota people food, and everything they needed to survive and prosper.

Thereafter, for the Lakota, words spoken and promises made with the chanunpa, or the “pipe of peace” as the white man called it, were a sacred vow.

Sadly these vows were broken time and time again by the white man, and continue to be.

The story has a message for our times. The two warriors at the beginning of the story represent, I believe, different ways of behaving towards the world and its treasures.

Which warrior will we become in our story? The one who shows respect and reverence to the sacredness of the earth, or the one who is covetous and disrespectful, and so becomes a heap of burnt bones?