Buffalo Jump: Native American's Way to Kill Herds of Buffalos.

1. biltmore
   February 21st, 2007 at 2:36 am

   Wow, what a spooky photo.

2. Ali
   February 21st, 2007 at 6:43 am

   For some reason I had that one song from "The Sound of Music" playing in my head when I saw that picture.

   *The hills are aliiiiiiive with the sound of muuuusic!*

   Perhaps that picture spun off the idea for Buffalo Wings? :p

3. Mike
   February 21st, 2007 at 8:29 am

   no way that's real haha

4. andre
   February 21st, 2007 at 10:43 am

   Is that a cowboy hat between buffalo 1 and buffalo 2???

5. Dan
   February 21st, 2007 at 11:18 am

   The mini-series Into the West has a pretty cool portrayal of how this was done.

   It is also worth noting that while the American Indians COULD use every part of the buffalo doesn't mean they always did. Dozens of buffalo carcasses were found at kill sites with only their tongues removed.

6. Hannah
   February 21st, 2007 at 4:33 pm

   That picture was the inspiration for the original video for U2's song "One," which consisted of a lot of slow-motion blurry footage of bison galloping. Needless to say, they redid the video (another two or three times) in the hopes of getting a bit more commercial success. The footage ended up getting projected on Jumbotrons during live performances of "One."

7. Julian Miller
   February 21st, 2007 at 11:26 pm

   The photo is by David Wojnarowicz; please give credit to the artist when you use an image.
   David was an artist, photographer, writer and AIDS activist who deserves much more recognition than he gets.

8. Lady Cooper
   February 22nd, 2007 at 12:58 am

   I hate to sound like a PC nag (it's a sore spot for me), but Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is in southern Alberta, in Canada (where I'm from), and "American Indian" is so wrong on both ways. They're not Americans, they're not from India. First Nations, Natives, Aboriginals, sure. Best shot, Cree. Tsuu T'ina most likely.

   But if you ever get a chance to go to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, definitely go. It's amazing and eerie.

9. julianmiller
   February 22nd, 2007 at 11:57 am

   The photo is by David Wojnarowicz - it was taken from a diorama at the Museum of Natural History in NYC. Neatorama should give credit to artists when it uses their works. U2 donated money to HIV research b/c of this photo.
   Neatorama cannot even give the artist credit, even though that costs nothing.
   David was an artist, photographer, writer and activist who deserves recognition.

10. Faded Character
    February 22nd, 2007 at 10:24 pm

    If the Plains Indians had been killing the buffalo for their own use, the situation would have never happened. But because they were being slaughtered for profit, the whole thing was inevitable. But it was the white man who profited. There was a GIANT demand in the East for buffalo tongue (& robes). These tongues were traded to whites for a few gallons of whiskey.

    Among the tribes who did not trade with whites, each animal was completely used, down to the hooves. No part went to waste.

11. BA Smith
    March 17th, 2007 at 11:30 pm

    Re: Faded Character's claim that the Plains Indians wouldn't have executed the "Buffalo Jump" massacre if it weren't for the White Man profiting from Buffalo...

    It has been documented that the Indians had Buffalo Jumps for over 5,000 years...long before the White Man stepped foot on North America.
    Also, Native Indians sometimes burned whole forests to capture game and of course, fires occasionally got completely out of control and destroyed everything in its path, which endangered the survival of the buffalo in North America.
    Lastly, many pioneers reported finding skeletons of buffalo and other animals the Indians didn't need or use, leaving the rest of the carcas to rot and causing a stench of death for a mile around the kills.
    Just thought to add that comment for a reality check.
    There is no society that has ever lived in harmony and peace...except when later told by ancestors with incomplete and incorrect information.

12. Blair
    April 5th, 2007 at 12:46 pm

    Native Americans had no horses until the Spanish arrived in the 1400s. They didn't follow or migrate with buffalo herds, but waited for them on the plain. Chasing down a buffalo on foot and killing them individually was a difficut task; driving herds over cliffs was much more efficient. Since a single drive would kill hundreds of buffalo, they took only choice cuts from many. They probably time many of the drives for late fall so they could perserve the meat through the winter.

    Native Americans, of course, are not indigenous to the Americas; humans are only indigenous to Africa. Native Americans are descended from Asians who cross the land bridge which existed between Siberia and North America near the end of the last ice age. They evolved for thousands of years in continental isolation and are not considered a genetically, or racially, distinct group. As they crossed the land brige, they entered a hunter's paradise where animals had no instinctive fear of man and proceeded to exterminate every large mammal on the continent, except for Big Horn sheep. The large mammals we have today, including the buffalo, are descended from animals that also crossed the land bridge.

    Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Native America tribes wage incessant, brutal and genocidal warfare among themselves. The purpose of this warfare was to decimate or exterminate rival tribes or to push them off their lands. As a percentage of population, this warefare produce higher casualty rates than the European conflicts of the 20th century.

    The explosion of the "horse culture" in the late 1700s lured many tribes onto the plans. For example, the Lakota Sioux migrated from the Great Lakes area onto the plain and arrived in the Black Hills around 1775, about 40 years ahead of the first permanent white settlement. As they migrated west, they attacked the tribes that lay in their path; at one site near the Missouri, they murdered and mutilated 400 men, women, and children.

    Indian leaders deplored the slaughter of the buffalo for their hides in the 1800s, but Native Americans participated, probably killing more buffalo for their hides than white buffalo hunters.

13. MoneySingh94
    May 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

    hahahah im using this for my Coamcnhe indian project.... Thansk for the help

14. Seymore testies
    May 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am

    That picture just blows my skirt up, and gives my the shivers.

15. ghirmit
    May 30th, 2008 at 10:41 am

    This picture is an actual factual representation of our struggles as a people trying to find our way in a world where we are all buffalos jumping off the cliff of life.

16. madman
    October 4th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    one word

    GEREONIMO!

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