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Head-smashed-in Buffalo JumpHead-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump located where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains begin to rise from the prairie 18 km northwest of Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada on highway 785, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and museum of Native American culture. History The buffalo jump was used for 5,500 years by aboriginal peoples of the plains to kill buffalo, by driving them off the 10 metre high cliff. The Blackfoot drove the buffalo from a grazing area in the Porcupine Hills about 3 kilometers west of the site to the "drive lanes," lined by hundreds of cairns, then at full gallop over a cliff. The cliff itself is about 300 meters long, and at its highest point drops 10 meters into the valley below. The site was in use at least 6,000 years ago, and the bone deposits are 10 meters deep. After falling off the cliff, the buffalo carcasses were processed at a nearby camp. In Blackfoot, the name for the site is Estipah-skikikini-kots. According to legend, a young Blackfoot wanted to watch the buffalo plunge off the cliff from below, but accidentally had his "head smashed in" when he wandered too close. Head-Smashed-In was abandoned in the 19th century after European contact. The site was first recorded by Europeans in the 1880s, and first excavated by the American Museum of Natural History in 1938. It was designated a Canadian National Historic Site in 1968, a Provincial Historic Site in 1979, and a World Heritage Site in 1981, according it the same significance as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and the Galapagos Islands. Interpretive centre and museum The $10 million interpretive centre at Head-Smashed-In is built into the ancient sandstone cliff in naturalistic fashion. It contains five distinct levels depicting the ecology, mythology, lifestyle and technology of Blackfoot peoples within the context of available archaeological evidence, presented from the viewpoints of both aboriginal peoples and European archaeological science. The centre also offers tipi camping and hands-on educational workshops in facets of Native American life, such as making moccasins, drums, etc. Each year Head-Smashed-In hosts a number of special events and native festivals known throughout the world for their color, energy and authenticity, including a special Christmas festival called Heritage Through My Hands, which brings together native artists and craftspeople who display a wide variety of jewelry, clothing, art and crafts. External links
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