The Buffalo Jumps of North America

For thousands of years the natives of North America hunted the bison. These people became entirely dependent on the animal for their livelihood using as much of the carcass as possible. Hides would be used for clothing, shelter, and bedding. The hair and tail could be used to make rope and fly brushes. Sinew from the muscles went into making threads, glue, and bow strings, while bones and horns were used to make a variety of tools for everyday use. In order to feed, clothe, and shelter a community, mass hunting was necessary. With skillful planning, organization, and some luck, prehistoric hunters succeeded in killing dozens or even hundreds of animals at a time, using little or no weaponry. One such sophisticated technique developed by the native people to kill buffaloes was the buffalo jump, where herds of buffaloes were driven off a high cliff to their deaths. “Driving Buffalo Over the Cliff”, a painting by Charles Marion Russell. Photo credit To lure these massive animals to a cliff and frighten them enough to cause a stampede and finally the death plunge was an exhausting effort that required careful planning, but the rewards were enormous. A single jump could provide an entire village with food and clothing for months to come. The first task for the “jump kill” was to find a suitable cliff. The best jumps sites were those that began with a good pasture which sloped gently down towards the rim and ended in a sheer cliff some twenty or more feet in height. Once such a site was located the native people would begin preparing the scene by piling up large piles of rocks and tree stumps in a V-shaped pathway with the point ending at the precipice. One individual would cover himself in the hide of a bison calf and attempt to lure the herd to the entrance of the trap. The disguised individual would often bleat to attract the attention of the herd and then begin to move toward the cliff.