GREENVILLE - The owners of a sacred white buffalo calf, who along with his mother were killed three months ago, are now considered suspects in the case.
It’s the latest development in the very public affair, which has yet to bring formal charges against the alleged suspects.
In a release dated July 29 and posted to the Lakota Ranch website, Little Solider says he and his wife, Pat, were brought in “for an interview and interrogation” about an insurance policy on Lightning Medicine Cloud, as well as “monies from donations to the Reward Fund and Scholarship Powwow Fund, and care/maintenance of the buffalo before and after the slaying of LMC.”
The two were questioned by officials with the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office and Texas Rangers. The same day, the Hunt County Grand Jury convened to hear evidence in several recent cases – the buffalo deaths not being one of them.
Pat Little Soldier tells NBC 5 TV:
“There is never any money put into anyone’s pocket. Our very hope was, 'Did we break even?'” In response to questions concerning a $5 parking fee for the event, Arby said, “There was no monetary gain through Lightning Medicine Cloud by the time you pay staff, people that work for you, and you pay the drums, you pay the electricity, you gotta pay the port-o-pots and all that – that was just trying to cover that expense there.”
On their website, owners say Lightning was a gift from God, and that no monetary value could replace what he meant to them and “the thousands who were blessed by his birth, and message.”
Just one week ago, the Lakota Ranch played host to a press conference where leaders said they believe seven Native Americans outside the Lakota tribe were involved in the killings. One elder, Sam Lone Wolf, criticized the Hunt County Sheriff’s Office handling of the investigation.
Now, the Little Soldiers say they’ve concluded justice can only be served at the federal level.
“Arby and Pat Little Soldier will spend whatever is necessary and complete due process of the law, until justice has been served for this senseless crime.”
The full statement from Little Soldier, including a description of where $45,000 in reward monies came from, is available at http://lightningmedicinecloud.com/
