Visitation is up this year at the World Heritage Site Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, near Fort Macleod.
“We’ve had a number of motor coaches arriving bringing us guests, mostly from the United States,” notes Quentin Crow Shoe, from marketing and events. “We’ve been averaging about 600 people a day.”
Every Wednesday this month there’s drumming and dancing performances. “We feature some of the best drummers and dancers on the powwow circuit from the Blackfoot communities.”
“On those Wednesdays, they’ve become very popular days because people schedule to be here on those drumming and dancing days,” says Crow Shoe.
There are also hikes to the drive lanes, Crow Shoe adds. “The drive lanes are one of the components of the site. It tells the story of how the buffalo were lured out of the gathering basin and into these drive lanes that eventually lead up to the cliff.”
As an add-on experience, Crow Shoe says, three hikes have been incorporated. “We’ve already had one that was very popular and we had a good response. People from all over the place are signing up to join the hike. We have a minimum of 25 people. They’re all scheduled for Saturdays.”
The next hike is scheduled for Aug. 30.
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a sacred site, Crow Shoe explains. “It always has been and always will be. We’re very fortunate to have the support and approval from the local Indigenous Blackfoot communities to actually build an interpretive centre on a sacred site. It really helps us to preserve our way of life – the ancient buffalo hunt.”
“Visitors from around the globe get to come here. This site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. A number of years later in 1987, actually July 23 we celebrated our birthday. That’s when the interpretive centre opened, on that day. We talk about the ancient buffalo hunt. The different components of the hunt,” says Crow Shoe.
When you visit the site, you’re only where the buffalo went over the cliff, adds Crow Shoe. “It’s a much bigger picture than that. Unlike a museum, we don’t do collections and we don’t have archives. We’re an interpretive centre.”
When the site was designated UNESCO, it was based on a cultural nomination, says Crow Shoe. “That means the people are still here and the culture is still very much alive and vibrant. We have interpretive guides and staff that can share stories and information with guests that come in our door. They learn about all the different components of the buffalo hunt. Everything from where the campsites were along the rivers, the gathering basin, the drive lanes and the cliff itself. Below the cliff is known as the kill site, where the animals are finished off. Then they’re dragged out to the lower level plain – that’s called the butchering site.”
This buffalo jump, Crow Shoe notes, was one of the most used and best preserved, dating back a little over 6,000 years. “To put it in perspective, our people were rounding up the buffalo and tricking them over the cliff before the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge. This place is a very special place. We continue to get people from around the globe coming here and spending time in southwestern Alberta.”
“This site here is the destination. We are recognized as a designation within the world of tourism.”
For more information visit online at headsmashedin.ca.
(Photo by Stan Ashbee)
