A rare white buffalo has been born in Yellowstone National Park, fulfilling a prophecy of one of the largest Native American tribes.

The white calf was spotted on June 4 in the Lamar Valley in the northeastern corner of the park by an outdoor photographer.

Erin Braateen of Kalispell, who was visiting the park with her family, took several shots of the calf after spotting it among a herd of bison across the Lamar River.

Traffic was brought to a standstill while the herd crossed the road, which prompted Braaten to take out her camera and photograph it.

“It was pretty amazing,” Braateen told USA TODAY. “It just seemed really odd for it to be there and we got stuck in traffic. And so I took my camera out and looked back and saw that it was actually a white bison calf that had just been born.”

After the bison left the roadway, Braaten and her family turned their vehicle around and found a spot to watch the calf and its mother for more than half an hour.

Bratten told the Associated Press that while she could not find the white calf after coming back to the same spot in the next two days, she was “totally floored” to bear witness to the arrival.

While the birth of the calf has not been confirmed by Yellowstone National Park officials, a naming ceremony is set to be held by members of the Lakota Sioux tribe to celebrate the calf’s birth at Buffalo Field Campaign headquarters in West Yellowstone.

The naming ceremony will be held on June 26.

The birth of a white buffalo holds a cultural signifance to the tribe and other American Indian tribes who reveres it as “the most sacred living thing on earth,” according to the National Park Service.

It is also reverred as a sign that prayers are being heard and the promises of a Lakota prophecy is being fulfilled.

“The birth of this calf is both a blessing and warning. We must do more,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and the Nakota Oyate in South Dakota told the Associated Press.

The calf’s birth came after a harsh winter in 2023 that sent hundreds of bison, or Yellowstone buffalo, to lower elevations.

More than 1,500 buffalo were either slaughtered by hunters and traders or given to tribes who wanted to reclaim control of an animal that had been there for thousands of years.