Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump National Historic Site of Canada
Fort MacLeod, Alberta
Address :
Secondary Highway #785, Fort MacLeod, Alberta
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1968-11-28
Other Name(s):
-
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
(Designation Name)
Research Report Number:
2020-CED-SDC-03
Description of Historic Place
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump National Historic Site of Canada is a well-preserved archaeological site located 19 kilometres west of Fort MacLeod, Alberta. The site consists of a historic buffalo jump that was heavily used by Plains nations for at least 2000 years. The long escarpment lies at the southern tip of the Porcupine Hills. It comprises an east facing cliff face over which bison were driven, a series of drive lanes marked by stone cairns leading from the basin of Olson Creek, and a gathering basin. Archaeological remains at the site include the kill site at the cliff base, comprised mostly of bison bones, and the campsite / butchering area comprising the remains of tipi rings, tools, bones and other living and butchering implements. Official recognition refers to the 3,626 hectares of land, comprised of 56 quarter sections consistent with that submitted to the World Heritage Centre in February 2020.
Heritage Value
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1968. It is recognized because:
• it is one of the oldest bison jumps known in North America, an outstanding example of subsistence hunting which still forms part of the ‘traditional knowledge base’ of the Plains nations, in use from 5,800 years BP to AD 1850;
• the deep, undisturbed layers of animal bones (largely American Bison) buried below the cliff base, represent nearly 6,000 years of continuous occupation, and;
• the gathering basin and drive lane complex associated with the jump is among the largest and most complex and is essentially undisturbed by modern settlement.
The heritage value of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump resides in its archeological integrity and in its historical significance as one of the oldest known buffalo jumps in North America and one of the largest on the northern plains. A buffalo jump is a cliff face over which herds of plains bison were driven in large-scale hunting operations by Indigenous Peoples. Buffalo were the foundation of life for the Plains Peoples, providing an essential food source and raw materials for clothing and lodging. In use for thousands of years, Head-Smashed-In was one of the most heavily used jump site on the northern plains. It is also remarkably well preserved in comparison to similar jump sites. The site includes a deep deposit of bison bones at the base of the cliff, a nearby camp site where the hunters and their families would process the carcasses, and a gathering basin that consists of long rows of cairns in a valley on top of the cliff from which the herds were coaxed toward the jump. The site also includes artifacts that date from approximately 4800 B.C.E. including remains of tipi rings, tools, bone and other living and butchering implements. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump was designated a Provincial Heritage Site in 1979 and designated a World Heritage Site in 1981.
Sources: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, November 1968, October 1969, November 1973, June 1975, September 1980; Status of Designation Committee, Minutes, September 2020.
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements contributing to the heritage value of this site include: its location 19 kilometres west of Fort MacLeod, Alberta; its setting on a cliff formed by the most southeasterly outcropping of the Porcupine Hills sandstone formation; gathering basin within the designated area; the abrupt sandstone cliff over which the buffalo were driven; the grassy gathering basin and remaining drive lanes, several kilometres long, marked by long rows of stone cairns, and remaining markers; any archaeological resources related to the kill site, including the six-metre deep deposit of bison bone at the base of the cliff and any other archaeological materials such as projectile points and butchering tools; any archaeological remains and cultural debris related to the large campsite / butchering area, including the remains of tipi rings, grass circles, tools, bone and any other living, hunting and butchering implements; any in situ archaeological remains associated with the various phases of occupation, such as the Oxbow-McKean, Pelican Lake, Besant, Avonlea, and Old Women’s phases, including arrowheads and stone tools; the integrity of any surviving or as yet unidentified archaeological remains, which may be found within the site in their original placement and extent, including any cultural debris scattered over the wide landscape at the base of the cliff; viewscapes from the drive lanes toward the abrupt drop of the cliff face.