Canada/Alberta: Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but to be honest, while it’s interesting historically, it’s really not spectacular and hardly deserved the valuable designation. This archaeological site was used by indigenous Blackfoot people for over 6,000 years as a buffalo jump, a place where they would drive bison off a cliff as a hunting method. Hunters would dress up as coyotes and then push the buffalo herds into the “drive lanes”, when the animals would stampede to the edge of a cliff and the dive down involuntarily under the incoming pressure of the herd. The cliff itself is about 300 m (980 feet) long, and at its highest point drops 10 m (33 feet) into the valley below. The drop would kill or injure the buffalo, allowing the hunters to process the animals for food, clothing, and tools. While not too impressed by the site itself, we had find watching a groundhog play around.