Distinctly Montana Magazine

W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A . C O M 19 I will always remember my first hike here and being transported in time and cross-cultural understand- ing. e cunning, courage, and physi- cal prowess required of the Montana tribespeople who hunted and drew their sustenance from the bison that roamed here were truly remarkable. eir sophisticated skills are nearly unimaginable by contemporary stan- dards. Most definitely, they were not primitive or uninformed people. Wabusk Ragged Robe, a member of the Aaninin/Gros Ventre tribe explains," Buffalo jumps are locations that fill me with awe and respect for all of the old ones who used them. ey are a testament to the historical presence of Tribal nations and their knowledge of landscapes and buffalo behavior." "When I am standing at Madi- son Buffalo Jump," he continues, "I am standing in the footsteps of my ancestors. e feat of utilizing a buf- falo jump like this for hunting buffalo cannot be recreated. e intimate knowledge that my forefathers had of the habits and psychology of the buffalo cannot be overestimated. Using intellect and ceremony allowed Native peoples to create opportunities that would be impossible today. eir wisdom, coupled with their reverence for the buffalo, ensured successful communal hunts that fed, clothed, and sheltered them." Buffalo jumps were used in the late autumn, so that tribe(s) would be able to kill and process a large quantity of meat, hides, and bones before winter arrived. e communal hunts were carefully organized in advance, infused with ceremony, and set in motion by scouts and runners. Every- one involved had to understand the topog- raphy of the land and be able to locate a herd on a gathering plateau. e enter- prise also had to be nearby miles of well- placed rock cairns equipped with fresh-cut brush for prepositioned tribespeople to wave at the just the right moment to help funnel the stampeding buffalo along care- fully mapped drive lines that ended in a serviceable cliff. See visual aids. Next, a series of carefully orchestrated tribal ruses were used to trick and manipu- late the herd into the drive lines. Taking advantage of the natural curiosity of the buffalo, cleverly-disguised hunters would patiently move near the herd, falling to the ground, jumping up in the air, imitating the sounds of buffalo calves, twisting around several times, falling again, running a short distance, and doing it all over again. Each action was punctuated by periods of calm during which the hunters would lay or stand perfectly still. Additional hunters (i.e. the renowned buffalo runners) would position themselves downwind of the herd, but above the targeted destination. Again, the hunters acted out in fits and starts of orchestrated movements, sometimes dragging them- selves along the ground. eir gyrations University of Montana Professor of Anthropology and author Doug MacDonald oversaw the most com- prehensive cultural and archaeo- logical survey of the site ever compiled. Using GPS and other new technology, he and his team concluded that they could easily spend the rest of their profession- al careers mapping and studying the artifacts and unique features of this special place. Bill Goold at the Madison Buffalo Jump site Stalking the bison herd disguised in calfskins Steering charging buffalo toward cliff Using stealth to direct buffalo off the jump CONTINUED

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