Ruth Soller » Blog

Legend of the White Buffalo

I learned of this legend passed down by the Lakota Sioux of South Dakota after visiting the Badlands and viewing herds of buffalo. The white buffalo is extremely rare, said to occur only once in 6 million births. White buffalo are considered sacred to the Lakota Sioux and may have spiritual significance similar to weeping statues, bleeding icons or crosses of light in some Christian traditions. White buffalo symbolize abundance and sacred life as evidenced in this legend.

One summer long ago seven council fires of Lakota Sioux met together to discuss their lack of game as the people were starving. Two young braves were sent out to hunt in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

A beautiful young woman with long dark hair and dressed in buckskin and carrying a bundle wrapped in a buffalo hide appeared before the young hunters. She told them that she knew their thoughts and that one had good thought and one had bad thoughts. A cloud of dust rose around the man with lustful thoughts and only a skeleton was left. The second hunter was very frightened but listened to the holy woman’s message.

The woman said that change was coming and soon there would be an abundance of buffalo, but there would also be trials as the climate of the earth was changing. Her message was that all people of every color must work together if they hoped to thrive in the future. She gave the bundle containing a sacred pipe to the young brave to share with the tribes. The sacred pipe has been honored and passed down for nineteen generations.

As the woman departed she tumbled four times and changed in color from black to red to yellow and finally to a white buffalo calf. Soon after the visit of the holy woman herds of buffalo became abundant. It is believed that the changing colors of the woman represent all races of humans, who must work together in unity to save our earth for future generations. The Native Americans see the white buffalo calf as a sign of life’s sacred circle.

Source: http://www.lightningmedicinecloud.com/legend.html Read More

We enjoyed visiting Mesa Verde and toured several of the cliff dwellings including Cliff Palace and Long House and Spruce Tree House. One balmy evening we visited the Cortez Cultural Center where we experienced Ute tribe storyteller Reggie Lopez and his three lovely daughters who performed dances in dresses of the Ute tribe. Storm clouds threatened a downpour as a glorious double rainbow graced the eastern sky. I imagined traveling back 700 to 900 years in time when the cliff dwellings were occupied by hundreds of Native Americans.

Nina is painted at Newspaper Rock in southeastern Utah. Newspaper Rock is a petroglyph panel etched in sandstone that records approximately 2,000 years of early man’s activities. Prehistoric peoples, probably Archaic, Basketmaker, Fremont and Pueblo cultures, etched on the rock from B.C. time to A.D. 1300. In historic times, Utah and Navajo tribesmen, as well as Anglos, left their contributions. In Navajo, the rock is called “Tse’ Hane’” (rock that tells a story). Read More

 

I'm thrilled my oil painting "Bell Dance Taos Pueblo" is chosen for an Award of Excellence in the Manhattan Arts International " Spirit of Resilience " online exhibition featuring eighty outstanding artists worldwide. My painting is available for purchase here: https://www.ruthsoller.com/workszoom/3779663#/

 

"The Puebloan tribes continue to live and work at Taos Pueblo showing the spirit of resilience since 1350 A.D. I painted Bell Dance Taos Pueblo of the pueblo at dusk lit by campfire. Energy and movement are shown by beads and bells on the costumes. The fire crackles and pops as the wafting smoke symbolizes the mystery of the traditional dance."

 

You may view the show here: healing-power-of-art.org/the-spirit-of-resilience-exhibition

 

Inspiration and Process - At Leanin’ Tree Museum of Western Art in Boulder, CO (now closed), I discovered Kenneth Riley’s inspiring 1991 oil painting “Dance Progressions” and began planning my own adventure into painting Native American dancers. My visit to Taos Pueblo and experience of Native American dancers at the motel fire pit gave me ample resources. Painting began with the evening sky, the mountains, and the Taos Pueblo as seen at dusk with a foreground campfire. I painted the darker elements of the elaborate Bell Dance costumes in analogous cool colors and then painted the hair and firelight glow of the skin tones. Several layers of progressively lighter tones built up the swirling skirts. 

 

 

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Mission San Xavier del Bac was one of my dream destinations to paint plein air. When my niece planned her wedding in Tucson in 2016, we scheduled our travels around the event. San Xavier Mission was founded near Tucson by Jesuit missionary Kino in 1700 and rebuilt by Franciscan missionaries between 1783 and 1797. 

 

Also called White Dove of the Desert, San Xavier features an elegant white stucco Moorish exterior with an ornate entrance of massive, carved mesquite wood doors. The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church interior is filled with marvelous original statues and mural paintings. 

 

 San Xavier is still actively run by Franciscans, and continues to serve the Native community by which it was built. The San Xavier Festival is held the evening of the Friday after Easter and features a torch-light parade of Tohono O'odham and Yaqui tribal members. San Xavier Mission was designated in 1966 on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

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Legend of the White Buffalo

I learned of this legend passed down by the Lakota Sioux of South Dakota after visiting the Badlands and viewing herds of buffalo. The white buffalo is extremely rare, said to occur only once in 6 million births. White buffalo are considered sacred to the Lakota Sioux and may have spiritual significance similar to weeping statues, bleeding icons or crosses of light in some Christian traditions. White buffalo symbolize abundance and sacred life as evidenced in this legend.

One summer long ago seven council fires of Lakota Sioux met together to discuss their lack of game as the people were starving. Two young braves were sent out to hunt in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

A beautiful young woman with long dark hair and dressed in buckskin and carrying a bundle wrapped in a buffalo hide appeared before the young hunters. She told them that she knew their thoughts and that one had good thought and one had bad thoughts. A cloud of dust rose around the man with lustful thoughts and only a skeleton was left. The second hunter was very frightened but listened to the holy woman’s message.

The woman said that change was coming and soon there would be an abundance of buffalo, but there would also be trials as the climate of the earth was changing. Her message was that all people of every color must work together if they hoped to thrive in the future. She gave the bundle containing a sacred pipe to the young brave to share with the tribes. The sacred pipe has been honored and passed down for nineteen generations.

As the woman departed she tumbled four times and changed in color from black to red to yellow and finally to a white buffalo calf. Soon after the visit of the holy woman herds of buffalo became abundant. It is believed that the changing colors of the woman represent all races of humans, who must work together in unity to save our earth for future generations. The Native Americans see the white buffalo calf as a sign of life’s sacred circle.

Source: http://www.lightningmedicinecloud.com/legend.html

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A white buffalo or white bison is considered sacred or spiritually significant in several Native American religions; therefore such buffalo are often visited for prayer and other religious rituals. The coats of buffalo are almost always brown and their skin a dark brown or black, while white buffalo are extremely rare. The National Bison Association has estimated that they only occur in approximately one out of every 10 million births.

Native Americans see the birth of a white buffalo calf as a prophetic sign, similar to the weeping statues, bleeding icons, and crosses of light that are meaningful to some Christians. As Christians may view these signs as a renewal of God's ongoing relationship with humanity, so Native Americans view the white buffalo calf as the sign of life's sacred circle.

An early story about a white buffalo was documented by historian Josiah Gregg and travelers on the Santa Fe trail. In 1833 during the Leonid Meteor Shower (The Night the Stars Fell), a white bison was killed by the Cheyenne who scribed a peace and trade treaty on its skin.

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The Russell is a fine art exhibition and four-day fundraising event. The Russell events include an educational component for the public through supporting activities and materials. This exhibition and sale offers the opportunity for thousands of individuals (including students) to view quality art created by a large and varied group of nationally known artists. It enables the Russell Museum to become a more financially stable institution better able to carry out its mission. Western Art Week has been taking place in Great Falls, Montana, since 1969.  This is the fifth year that the C.M. Russell Museum will host an event to solely benefit the Museum.

Night the Stars Fell on Bents Fort (c) Ruth Soller, oil, 24x30

The Russell: Sale to benefit C.M. Russell Museum

March 21, 2014: First Strike Friday Night Auction
Civic Center Convention Center

Great Falls, Montana
4:00- 6:00 p.m.
The First Strike Friday Night Auction will give art buyers an opportunity to get acquainted with up and coming artists’ work and build their collection of fine art. Hosted refreshments and light appetizers will be served.

Link to The Russell catalog:  

https://www.cmrussell.org/catalogue-of-art-the-russell-auction

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Twilight Trail Ride (c) Ruth Soller, oil on linen, 16x20, $1200, Room 185

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I'm thrilled that Night the Stars Fell on Bents Fort will be for sale in March 20-22, 2014 The Russell: Sale to benefit C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana. In addition I'm honored to be accepted to exhibit in the prestigious Western Masters Art Show at the Best Western Heritage Inn, Great Falls, Montana during Western Art Week, March 19-22, 2014. You're invited to visit Room 185, where I am featuring oil paintings around the theme of Old West Relics & Memories. Join my free newsletter list to receive previews of new works, private invitations to events, and special offers. 

William Bent (1809-1869) was a fur trader and rancher in the early 1830’s who built the Old Bents Fort along with his brothers near present day La Junta, Colorado. The fort was on the Santa Fe Trail and just north of the Arkansas River which divided the American West from Mexico. During fall and winter as many as 20,000 Cheyenne would camp outside the fort while trading with Mexican and American settlers. Beaver pelts, buffalo pelts, and horses were traded for food, liquor, and household goods.

On the night of November 13, 1833 a magnificent celestial event called “The Night the Stars Fell” would be reported across much of North America. In Bloomington, Illinois the heavens lit up like a Fourth of July sparkler as tens of thousands of meteors streaked through the darkened sky. In Baltimore, Maryland the event was said to be one of the most grand and alarming spectacles which ever beamed upon the eye of man.

Historian Anne Hyde wrote that Cheyenne chief White Thunder suddenly realized a common interest with William Bent and interpreted the meteor shower as a sign of a new beginning. White Thunder arranged a truce with the Pawnee during a solo, unarmed visit to the Pawnee village. White Thunder also arranged a formal marital alliance between Bent and his daughter Owl Woman. He believed that their children would represent another element of the new beginning, of peace for the Cheyenne and the region. By this time Bent had learned the language of the Cheyenne, and he was known as Little White Man by the native tribes.

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Filemon modeled for us in Johanna Harmon's figure and portrait class at the Art Students League Denver. After starting the painting in class, I completed it later in my studio using photographs. 

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