Case file · Sacred site
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
A cliff in southern Alberta where Blackfoot peoples drove bison to their deaths for some 6,000 years; it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.
1981 CE · 49.75, -113.62 · status: official
The account
The name comes from a Blackfoot story of a young man crushed under the falling bison while watching from below the cliff. Hunts were preceded by ceremonies to call the bison.