Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Meanings

1. A cliff in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta which is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Etymology

Calque of Blackfoot Áístsipakihkínihkoohtsi (literally “place where [they were] striking the head into”), traditionally spelled Áístipahskikikínikots or Estipah-skikikini-kots. Etymology notes The source word in Blackfoot either refers to the millenia-old practice of buffalo hunting — made possible by sending the animal in large herds down a cliff — or to the oral tale of how the buffalo jump got its name. According to the University of Calgary, 150 years ago, a young Blackfoot man wanted to see the fall of the buffalo from below, but the hunt was so successful that day that he would end up buried down the corpses. When their relatives digged to take food back home, they have found his body, with his head smashed.