{"id":105293,"date":"2026-06-01T08:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T12:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=105293"},"modified":"2026-06-01T08:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T12:56:10","slug":"the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The perfect trap’: Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bill Graveland Renowned Alberta archeologist Bob Dawe has stood at this spot, near the windy, windswept craggy sandstone cliff of the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta, thousands of times during his career. But his mind always goes back to what it was like at the site of what was basically an early abattoir for thousands of years. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is about 150 kilometres south of Calgary. The silver ribbon of the Oldman River, an integral water source for the Blackfoot people, is just a couple of kilometres away. The jump was used for thousands of years by Indigenous people to channel bison herds and send the animals stampeding over an 11-metre-high cliff to be killed and harvested. “I don’t know how many times I’ve stood up here… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bill Graveland Renowned Alberta archeologist Bob Dawe has stood at this spot, near the windy, windswept craggy sandstone cliff of the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta, thousands of times during his career. But his mind always goes back to what it was like at the site of what was basically an early abattoir for thousands of years. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is about 150 kilometres south of Calgary. The silver ribbon of the Oldman River, an integral water source for the Blackfoot people, is just a couple of kilometres away. The jump was used for thousands of years by Indigenous people to channel bison herds and send the animals stampeding over an 11-metre-high cliff to be killed and harvested. “I don’t know how many times I’ve stood up here... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\n'The perfect trap': Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'The perfect trap': Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bill Graveland Renowned Alberta archeologist Bob Dawe has stood at this spot, near the windy, windswept craggy sandstone cliff of the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta, thousands of times during his career. But his mind always goes back to what it was like at the site of what was basically an early abattoir for thousands of years. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is about 150 kilometres south of Calgary. The silver ribbon of the Oldman River, an integral water source for the Blackfoot people, is just a couple of kilometres away. The jump was used for thousands of years by Indigenous people to channel bison herds and send the animals stampeding over an 11-metre-high cliff to be killed and harvested. “I don’t know how many times I’ve stood up here\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-01T12:56:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"‘The perfect trap’: Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T12:56:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1075,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/\",\"name\":\"'The perfect trap': Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-01T12:56:10+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/01\\\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘The perfect trap’: Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'The perfect trap': Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'The perfect trap': Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Bill Graveland Renowned Alberta archeologist Bob Dawe has stood at this spot, near the windy, windswept craggy sandstone cliff of the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta, thousands of times during his career. But his mind always goes back to what it was like at the site of what was basically an early abattoir for thousands of years. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is about 150 kilometres south of Calgary. The silver ribbon of the Oldman River, an integral water source for the Blackfoot people, is just a couple of kilometres away. The jump was used for thousands of years by Indigenous people to channel bison herds and send the animals stampeding over an 11-metre-high cliff to be killed and harvested. “I don’t know how many times I’ve stood up here","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-06-01T12:56:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"‘The perfect trap’: Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump","datePublished":"2026-06-01T12:56:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/"},"wordCount":1075,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/","name":"'The perfect trap': Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-06-01T12:56:10+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/01\/the-perfect-trap-archeologist-reflects-on-decades-at-head-smashed-in-buffalo-jump\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘The perfect trap’: Archeologist reflects on decades at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105294,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105293\/revisions\/105294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}