As the reader may or may not recall, we were here near Fort Macleod at the beginning of our journey. We had disc
overed that off to the northwest of Fort Macleod there is a place
that is on the World Heritage Register, the "Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump." At that time the place was still on reduced hours and it was closed when we got there (remember?). Well, this time we made it. And on top of it, this was Canada Day, the equivalent of the United States' 4th of July.
What a show awaited us there! There were what in Canada are called "First Natio
n People" performing 
dances, songs, and drum music. But the main attraction, when it doesn't happen to be Canada Day, is the buffalo jump. When we first passed by here we had no idea of what this is all about, but when we got to Montana we had a thorough introduction to the buffalo jump as practiced by the original inhabitants of the North American continent (see the narrative about Day 6 of our journey).
During the lunch break I had a chance to talk to one of the Blac
kfeet drummers. He was the one with the red white and blue polo shirt. I wanted to know if the, to our ears, monotonous drumming and chanting had any meaning and he assured me that there is a distinct meaning to all of it. None of it is written down, it is passed from one generation to another. He readily discussed the heritage of their dances and chants and remarked that I was the first foreigner who had ever asked him these questions.
I love the wide open spaces of the northern plains. I like seeing mountains in the background, but I feel hemmed in if they are too close.
We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the "Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump" and sadly had to leave to meet our next deadline, Calgary, to
turn in the camper the next day. We stayed at a campground outside Calgary which is frequented and run by people of German descent. There were, among others, German flags, little dwarfs as seen in some gardens in Germany and a band had just ended playing German songs when we got there. Not what we really wanted to experience after the buffalo jump.
With a beautiful sunset Day 29 ended.
overed that off to the northwest of Fort Macleod there is a place
that is on the World Heritage Register, the "Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump." At that time the place was still on reduced hours and it was closed when we got there (remember?). Well, this time we made it. And on top of it, this was Canada Day, the equivalent of the United States' 4th of July.What a show awaited us there! There were what in Canada are called "First Natio
n People" performing 
dances, songs, and drum music. But the main attraction, when it doesn't happen to be Canada Day, is the buffalo jump. When we first passed by here we had no idea of what this is all about, but when we got to Montana we had a thorough introduction to the buffalo jump as practiced by the original inhabitants of the North American continent (see the narrative about Day 6 of our journey).During the lunch break I had a chance to talk to one of the Blac
kfeet drummers. He was the one with the red white and blue polo shirt. I wanted to know if the, to our ears, monotonous drumming and chanting had any meaning and he assured me that there is a distinct meaning to all of it. None of it is written down, it is passed from one generation to another. He readily discussed the heritage of their dances and chants and remarked that I was the first foreigner who had ever asked him these questions.I love the wide open spaces of the northern plains. I like seeing mountains in the background, but I feel hemmed in if they are too close.
We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the "Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump" and sadly had to leave to meet our next deadline, Calgary, to
turn in the camper the next day. We stayed at a campground outside Calgary which is frequented and run by people of German descent. There were, among others, German flags, little dwarfs as seen in some gardens in Germany and a band had just ended playing German songs when we got there. Not what we really wanted to experience after the buffalo jump.With a beautiful sunset Day 29 ended.
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