Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump
by Ginger Stein
Title
Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump
Artist
Ginger Stein
Medium
Photograph - Landscape Photography
Description
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is located where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains begin to rise from the prairie west of Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada on highway 785. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of a museum of Blackfoot culture. The buffalo jump was used for 5,500 years by the indigenous peoples of the plains to kill bison by driving them off the high cliff. Before the introduction of horses, the Blackfoot drove the bison from a grazing area 2 miles west of the site to the "drive lanes", lined by hundreds of cairns, by dressing up as coyotes and wolves. These specialized "buffalo runners" were young men trained in animal behavior to guide the bison into the drive lanes. Then, at full gallop, the bison would fall from the weight of the herd pressing behind them, breaking their legs and rendering them immobile. The cliff itself is about 1000 feet long, and at its highest point drops 33 feet into the valley below. After falling off the cliff, the injured bison were finished off by other Blackfoot warriors at the cliff base armed with spears and clubs. The carcasses were then processed at a nearby camp. According to legend, a young Blackfoot wanted to watch the bison plunge off the cliff from below, but was buried underneath the falling animals. He was later found dead under the pile of carcasses, where he had his head smashed in.
FEATURED IN:
--Red Maple Gallery 05/09/2023
Uploaded
February 21st, 2022
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