Heritage Day Weekend

The first weekend of August is Heritage Day long weekend.  On Sunday, after church, we drove to Prince's Island Park for a picnic and some splash time.  It was awesome!  The kids loved playing in the water, and I love that we were taking advantage of one of the prettiest spots in the city.  After splash time, we enjoyed some ice cream and watched the street performers juggle and do tricks.  A fantastic day!

On Monday, Heritage Day, we decided that morning that we would hop in the car and drive a few hours south to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO world heritage site.  We drove past fields of canola flowers and through small towns with their unique charm. 

We made it to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump around 11 a.m. and enjoyed a quick little picnic before heading into the museum.  On their website, the Jump is described as follows:

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is an archaeological site known around the world as a remarkable testimony of the life of the Plains People through the millennia. The Jump bears witness to a method of hunting practiced by native people of the North American plains for nearly 6,000 years.  Due to their excellent understanding of the regional topography and bison behaviour, native people hunted bison by stampeding them over a precipice. They then carved up the carcasses and dragged the pieces to be butchered and processed in the butchering camp set up on the flats beyond the cliffs.

While it sounds brutal, the museum did a great job of presenting the Jump as a spiritual kind of practice for the Natives...the buffalo honored the people with their death and the people honored the buffalo by using all parts of the animal for life and survival.  It was really interesting and a great way to learn more about Alberta and its past.

 

After touring the museum, we ventured outside to see the Jump site. 

 

We're glad we made the trip, what a great learning experience.  And, after all the seriousness of the Jump, we got some laughs on the way home...this barn was smiling at us!  :)  Hee hee!