Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump
- Date Range
- January 1, 100 – January 1, 1850
- Title
- Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump
- What occurred
- Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump is a historic site that was used by indigenous people of the plains region, specifically the Blackfoot. The Blackfoot would drive herds of buffalo from a nearby grazing area 2 miles away over nearby cliffs in one of their most successful forms of hunting. The tribe had "runners" who, dressed as wolves and coyotes, would chase and direct large buffalo herds towards a geographic trap. The cliff(s) are not extraordinarily deep, but the weight and force of the entire herd falling on its own members was enough to guarantee injury to many of the buffalo in the herd. These injured buffalo would collect at the bottom of the cliffs where they would be dressed and consumed by the Blackfoot. The site gets its name from a young Indian brave who wanted to watch his people successfully hunt from a different perspective. The boy put his back to the cliffs and, covered by a small rock ledge, was able to witness scores of buffalo driven from the cliffs above him fall like rain in front of him, from the perspective of someone hiding behind a waterfall looking out through the water. This hunt was unusually successful and bodies of buffalo continued to pile atop of one another until the boy was pinned between rock and beast. The young Indian brave was not discovered until enough of the buffalo were butchered to reveal the brave's body and his crushed head. The site is significant because it serves as a constant reminder of environmental history when buffalo were unbelievably abundant and dominated the western side of our nation, specifically in the Plains and Midwest region. The site reminds us of a time when nature flourished before American Indians and eastern game hunters decimated the buffalo population. The site was designated as a National Historic Site in 1968 as well as a World Heritage Site in 1981. The site and its exhibit/museum attachment have attracted over 2.5 million visitors from around the globe since its "opening" in 1987. The site is additionally significant to environmental history because the site was utilized for hundreds upon hundreds of years before the introduction of horses and firearms, which ultimately were a death sentence to the buffalo in the Midwest. (Not sure what is going on with the date range but the time frame was 5800B.C. - 1850 A.D.)
- Location
- Secondary Highway #785, Fort MacLeod, AB, Canada 49° 44′ 58″ N, 113° 37′ 30″ W
- Image Citation
- https://www.mustdocanada.com/three-ways-to-experience-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump-alberta-canada/
- Student name(s)
- Reed Karaska