Beyond Words

The first book in the White Buffalo Woman trilogy, Eyes of Wisdom celebrates the sacredness of nature and the return of a culture.

The first book in the White Buffalo Woman trilogy, Eyes of Wisdom celebrates the sacredness of nature and the return of a culture.

One summer long ago there was no game, and the people were starving. Then a beautiful young woman appeared. She initiated the people into the way of the sacred pipe and taught them the value of the buffalo. Before she departed, she promised to return someday to purify the world and restore it to its proper balance. Then she changed into a white buffalo.

Drawing on several versions of the Lakota Sioux legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman, as well as from his own experiences in the Sun Dance lodge and his vision quests, Heyoka Merrifield offers a deeply moving narration of life and ceremony on the plains, richly interwoven with Native American and other mythic traditions.