First, to the name. It does not refer to the buffalo, but rather a not too smart human who stood under the cliff to watch and got hit by a buffalo. Second if you are not a vegetarian and do not get your edible animal flesh from a source which humanely raises and slaughters your food, then you are supporting much more barbaric and cruel practices than used by the natives. The buffalo lived a normal healthy life and suffered only from the fall. If they did not die instantly they were killed ASAP. And it was the way the people survived. All of the buffalo was used - it provided not only food, but, clothing, shelter, tools, etc. Your judgmental statement is a sad example of knee jerk reactions of the ignorant - reactions which many people have who act before or instead of thinking and cause much of the grief in our society.

I agree wholeheartedly with kawbuffalo and the others, the name of this place does not reflect how the buffalo died. The museum is a place that showcased the history of the land surrounding it and it also gave some insight of how people lived at one time.

I have very close connections to this sacred site. I am Piikani Blackfoot. I live a half hour away from this site on the Piikani nation Indian reservation. My grandfather was instrumental in the development of this site, interpretive centre, UNESCO world heritage site. So much so that they dedicated a room on the main level in the interpretive centre in his honour.

After reading through the comments I felt inclined to comment. I don't normally comment however this is one exception.

Through out my upbringing my grandfather shared with me stories and knowledge. I feel so fortunate that I had this opportunity. I travelled many places with my grandfather, including overseas.

In the times of our ancestors it was all about living in harmony with all beings including the sun, moon, stars and all the constellations. It was all about honouring the land and the gifts of life, worshiping the sun, our creator and SURVIVAL.

The Buffalo is considered a gift from the creator and understood its role in feeding, equipping and clothing the people. In the time of my ancestors it was all about prayers, protocols, living in harmony with the universe and SURVIVAL. Nothing else really mattered.

It isn't about glorififying but understanding how the First Nations who lived in this region in times past and what happened and why, the meat and products derived from these very periodic hunts was life and death to whole communities and they wasted nothing. If the hunt failed, they starved and froze. Also remember it wasn't these jumps that destroyed the vast herds of millions but western men with guns who slaughtered them by their millions for sport and entertainments and to deprive the first nations of them to make them dependent. Yes I must admit my group did feel a little bad for the buffalo but I think as modern western people we have no real concept of how one bad year food wise can undermine or even doom a whole community. Modern slaughter practices are pretty horrendous too when you look into them which most people don't and the animals see it coming more than the buffalo did. Along with information on the jump itself there is a lot of fascinating background on the people who lived on these lands which added a lot of context. The name of the site doesn't refer to a buffalo according to the story but a young man who made a foolish misjudgement during a hunt, I guess the naming was to highlight his cautionary tale.

You are missing the point, it is not about glorifying anything, it is a process of education. If we ignore the past we are condemned to repeat the same mistakes. That is why we study history.

Given that the site refers to skeletons of animals 13feet deep, it sounds like a lot of the carcasses were not processed nearby with everything being used efficiently, but rather many (hundreds? Thousands?) were left to rot and decay leaving their skeletons behind. How many buffalo does one have to pile to get a stack of bones 13 feet deep? I understand that the people needed to survive but this doesn’t sound like “we consider the buffalo to be our brothers” or “we take care of the earth” to me…

When I posted my original question about Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, I certainly didn't expect such a large number of responses. It appears that my comments upset a number of people. I admit that at the time I didn't know much about this site, and found its name rather confronting. And I certainly don't deny that in modern times there has been so much cruelty inflicted on animals by greedy and insensitive humans.

I appreciated the fact that most people who replied to my comments actually made an effort to educate me on the meaning and background of the site and provided me with lots of information.

To "Montreal_native" and others, take note: calling someone stupid and saying they made a fool of themselves is not the way to educate them about the culture and history of a place.

Thanks to the intelligent and informative replies I received, we have decided to travel to Canada next year (our 2nd trip to this beautiful country), and this time we are going to visit Head Smashed In and I'm sure it will be an education in itself.

The hideous deaths these animals faced were by white men with rifles, shooting them for the pure sport of killing a defenceless animal. Hundreds of thousands were wiped out this way. The indigenous people that killed these animals used every single part of the animal to stay alive. They did this using their ingenuity, no guns, an incredible amount of hard work and they only killed a few animals at a time, just enough to sustain the tribe through winter. Bison roamed the plains for thousands of years, before the white men came and almost wiped the herds out in a matter of a hundred years. When you need an animal to sustain yourself and your family, you do not arbitrarily kill them without purpose. A lesson some of us need to learn today.

It is not about cruelty. It is about how peole lived and survived over the centuries. It is about the culture arose around the site where people managed to obtain food and keep their community alive.

First Nations never killed more bizons they really needed to survive. This has nothing to do with European hunting customs and cruelty which in fact caused nearly total extarmination of bizons in North America. Here the bizon is the central figure as the creature which the life of the community depended on.

It's history ... Read my review carefully before making such ridiculous claims. It's a breath taking site.

I wasn't out to highlight and glorify the place. I was only stating that I found the museum very informative. Yes it was sad to hear what happened to the buffalo, but I think if you look into the history of many years ago, many animals were hunted in various ways for food and clothing. Also look at the ways of modern times today when the cattle being exported overseas and they way they have been treated with such inhumane force. Again I wasn't saying that I agreed with how the buffalo were killed at all. I think the sight was amazing and if anyone who was into history like I am then would find the museum informative.

I agree with the comments of those who actually visited the site and reviewed it. I'm so glad I went there and learned the history of these Indians, how they lived and survived such harsh conditions, how much they revered the buffalo and used every part of the beasts they humanely killed. They were truly ecologically-sensitive. The Indians never killed more animals than they needed to feed the tribe through the winter; they offered prayers for a successful hunt; and apologies to the buffalo for having to kill some of the herd.

Please don't judge their practices, or this place, harshly. Rather, save your criticism for the tourists of the time, who shot the buffalo from the windows of moving trains for sport, and left the dead and injured animals to rot in the sun.

Wow! What an uneducated and quite honestly stupid statement. How about we read a bit of history before you start commenting on things you clearly do not understand. I hope your proud of making a fool of yourself.

I don't glorify the attraction, but it is a part of history. Before the Europeans came to Canada or North America the First Nations did not use GUNS or weapons or horses these were all brought over by the white man. So it may be barbaric in some sense it was a practical way for survival and they used every aspect of the animal, not like where we have poachers today who hunt just for the kill and their egos. I am a white person and I believe history in any form is a good way of teaching children and as a grandparent who teaches her grandchildren at home I want them to see all aspects. I was wondering how they would respond to Head Smashed in Buffalo Place due to its name but once they learnt about it they have a wide understanding and acceptance of ways of life.

It is an UNESCO site and worthy of a visit to understand something of history. It is not a place that makes a political statement or tries to advance a political agenda.

You should definitely go there and get some real life experiences. Your comments are way off the mark.

Hi, it is a part of history and important to not be ignorant to the past. It's an educational center mostly focused on how people survived and created before the time of internet trolls. The name also has nothing to do with the Buffalo, something I learned by educating myself on the subject. Wouldn't hurt to look into it more yourself.

C'mon now , did your Kangaroos never get eaten by the Aborigines , the only meat there was , there also ; Buffalo Jump is a wonderful testament to the native people of their day , and how they honored the giver of life , be it Buffalo or whatever . I am now waiting to take our eldest daughter there - she is from the West Coast and also honors native practises with understanding and some participation- this World heritage site is amazing and very much historical as well . By the way , my husband is a New Zealander , and he informed me of how many Kangaroos were food for many ! After all , MOST of us are not as close to respecting allof nature as native and Aboriginal people are , that I KNOW ...