Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

• Official name: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
• Location: Alberta, Canada
• Type: Cultural
• Year of inscription: 1981

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is one of the world’s oldest buffalo jumps, a natural cliffside that Indigenous Plains people used when hunting a large number of bison, which they relied upon for food. A group of hunters lured and then drove a stampede of bison to the edge of a cliff while a second group waited at the bottom of the cliff to collect the carcasses and finish off fallen animals that were badly injured or dying.

The name Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is in reference to a Blackfoot legend about a young brave who wanted to see firsthand a group of bison galloping off a cliff. The young brave waited at a vantage point below the cliff, but as the large animals plunged from the cliff, they fell on top of him, burying him. His tribe found him dead under a pile of bison carcasses with his head smashed in.

The Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. In the twenty-first century, the area is a park protecting the natural surroundings, which were the ancestral homelands of the Blackfoot people. Also in the park is an interpretive center museum highlighting their culture and the Joe Crow Shoe Sr. Lodge, which was named for Joe Crowshoe, a Blackfoot who was instrumental in the development of the park.

History

The method of hunting by driving animals off a cliff was used before horses were introduced to native peoples, which was about six thousand years ago. Archaeologists have uncovered remnants of many bison under cliffs throughout the region. While in artwork these cliffs are depicted as gigantic, most are smaller bluffs. Nomadic prehistoric Native Americans such as the Blackfoot used stones to construct cairns, which funneled the buffalo toward a cliff. These cairns could stretch for miles and include food or water—anything to encourage the herd to move toward the cliff. Generally, the Native Americans used jumps in the late-summer or autumn, after the bison’s breeding season when they gathered in herds. Several bands of hunters and warriors would gather at jumps, such as Head-Smashed-In, because of the expected bounty. A successful buffalo jump could feed a tribe throughout the winter. The sandstone cliffside at Head-Smashed-In is, at its highest point, about 36 feet (11 meters) high and 1,000 feet (305 meters) long across the hillside.

To start the process and lead the animals to the jump, hunters dressed in animal skins to appear as coyotes or wolves to incite fear in the bison in the nearby grasslands. The Blackfoot hunters then worked together to drive bison from a grazing area into a cairn. Buffalo runners, young hunters who were specially trained to work with bison, guided the stampeding bison along the way through the lanes. As the rear members of the herd pressed forward at full speed, the entire herd fell at the cliff’s edge. Usually, the animal’s legs were broken in the fall. Warriors waited at the bottom of the cliff and killed the animals using spears and clubs.

The Blackfoot set up camps near jumps to manage the large quantities of animal carcasses as they were brought in by males. Women and children skinned and butchered the kill. Certain nutritious parts of the bison, such as the tongues and internal organs, were considered delicacies and consumed raw immediately after the hunt. The remaining meat was cooked in huge pots of boiling water. The meat was then dried and combined with dried fruit into a food called pemmican, which helped to sustain the people throughout the long cold winters.

A good bison harvest was an essential element in Blackfoot survival. Besides being preserved for food, bison were used for a variety of other useful items. For example, bones were made into tools, and hides were cured and dried for the covering of homes and for use as clothing. Because so many bison were harvested at once, they gave people what they needed for a long time.

After European settlers and traders arrived on Blackfoot territory in the nineteenth century, the Head-Smashed-In site was abandoned. The settlers introduced new sources of commerce and horses for use during hunting, which by the mid-eighteenth century made the jumps less important for survival. Contact with Europeans also led to the spread of disease and other hardships that reduced the population of the Indigenous Plains peoples such as the Blackfoot.

In the 1880s, European explorers first recorded the existence of Head-Smashed-In, and it was later excavated by the American Museum of Natural History in 1938. In 1968, the area became a National Historic Site, and in 1979, it was designated a Provincial Historic Site of the Province of Alberta. In honor of preserving the culture and customs of Indigenous Plains peoples, Head-Smashed-In was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

Significance

Since it became a World Heritage Site, more than two million people have visited Head-Smashed-In. The area has been expanded to better accommodate visitors. In 1987, the interpretive center at Head-Smashed-In was built into the sandstone cliff. It is a five-level building that depicts the culture of the Blackfoot. The Joe Crow Shoe Sr. Lodge is a multi-functional room at the interpretive center that hosts various events. In 1990, the unique design of the museum earned it the Governor General’s Gold Medal for Architecture.

Archeological findings are showcased, and viewpoints of both the European settlers and the early Plains Blackfoot peoples are presented. The displays educate visitors about the everyday life and spiritual ceremonies of the Blackfoot, who inhabited the region for thousands of years. In addition, details about how buffalo hunts were conducted at the jump are given with interactive displays. The center’s theater has a feature film that brings to life a typical hunt at the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.

Outside, visitors can experience the natural beauty of the rolling grasslands and nearby creeks of the Oldman River Valley while learning about the significance of the site. There are two developed trails, and in the spring, Blackfoot guides host back-country hiking trips. One trail leads to the top of the cliff, and another takes visitors to the kill site at the bottom, helping them to envision the proportion of the site that ancient hunters used to herd a stampede of bison off the cliff. The bison gathered to graze on the thick expanse of grass that grew in the basin just a few miles from the cliff, and when the wind was shifted to blow toward the cliff, they were unable to sense the danger. Stone cairn markers remain at the site to show how they were expertly driven to the jump.

Water from a natural spring also seeps from the sandstone cliff jump, which was extremely useful to the hunt. It was used as drinking water for the tribe and to butcher and cook the large quantities of bison culled. Although the spring channel has moved below ground level, evidence indicates that hundreds of years ago it flowed above ground and water was available year-round.

Throughout the year, several festivals are celebrated at the site. The Buffalo Harvest Days: Alberta Culture Days is a popular multi-day fall festival in homage to the importance of the bison to the Blackfoot people. Native artists and craftspeople display their wares for visitors, and demonstrations of traditional drum music and dancing are held, helping visitors to learn and experience Blackfoot traditions and culture.

The museum at the park also is home to the photography exhibition, Lost Identities: A Journey of Rediscovery. The collection is a collaboration of unidentified photographs of Indigenous people and places from historical societies and museums. Although the identities of the people in the pictures are unknown, by displaying them, they are honored and not forgotten. The collection, which was introduced at the center in 1999, has traveled on loan to other museums, but as of 2022 was permanently displayed at the center.

Bibliography

“A Complete Guide to Visiting Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (for 2022).” Road Trip Alberta 2022, roadtripalberta.com/head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump/. Accessed July 5, 2022.

“Feel the Spirit.” Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump World Heritage Site, 2022, headsmashedin.ca. Accessed 5 July 2022.

“Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.” UNESCO World Heritage Convention, 2022, whc.unesco.org/en/list/158/. Accessed July 5, 2022.

Kristensen, Todd and Michael Donnelly. “Cliffside Stories: How Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Feeds Today’s Generations.” National Trust for Canada, 2022, nationaltrustcanada.ca/online-stories/cliffside-stories-how-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump-feeds-todays-generations. Accessed July 5, 2022.

“Legend of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.” Department of Archaeology at the University of Calgary, n.d., www.ucalgary.ca/applied‗history/tutor/calgary/Legend.html. Accessed July 5, 2022.

“Meet our Organizers: Quinton of the Piikani Nation.” Culture Days, 2020, culturedays.ca/en/blog/quinton-crow-shoe-piikani-nation-ab. Accessed July 5, 2022.

Vanr, Valerie. “6,000 Years of History at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.” Avex Travel, 2022, avrextravel.com/head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump/. Accessed July 5, 2022.