Travel with the Kuelske's: North to Alaska

Taber, Alberta to Oldman River Dam Area

We made it to Taber, where we met up with John and Fran at the local Walmart. Not fond of staying in Walmart parking lots, but this one had electric hook-ups for RV'ers which made it kind of nice. And besides, it is only for one night - eh? That is like saying huh? in the states. You can always tell a Canadian by that.

We went to dinner with John, Fran, and their two friends, Ray and Betty and spent a pleasant evening. The restaurant was a Chinese/Western American Buffet and it was quite shocking to see more American food - roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, roasted vegetables - at a Chinese buffet. They had only two choices of Chinese entrees, both chicken based, beef vegetable soup, lettuce salads, and pies. Not at all what we were expecting. But the company was good - and we spent a quiet night in the parking lot.

Morning - and off we go to the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jumping Off National Park. The countryside as

we are traveling across the Canadian Plains, makes you think of what it used to be like when you could look at the buttes and see Indian Scouts looking over the valley to spot the buffalo - and of course the dreaded white man. Awesome. We found the campground we would be staying at - on the edge of the resevoir for Oldman Dam Recreation Area - and believe it or not - we were the only two rigs there. After all, it is in the middle of absolutely nowhere! After getting to the campground, Ken and I hopped in John and Fran's truck and we headed for the Head Smashed in Buffalo Jumping Off place. This is a very well done exhibit and well worth the two hours - and the long climb up the hill from the parking lot - we spent there.

First of all, the Indians used to plan their buffalo hunts for many days. They needed several men and women to make it successful as they had to make the buffalo think they were actually a part of the herd. One of the key parts was the "lost calf". This was obtained by a young warrior who wore a calfskin to make himself look and smell like "one of the herd". Then there were the wolves - men who wore wolfskins to again, make

them look and smell like the

"hunter". They stayed along the driving line to keep the herd inside the cairns the women and children erected as a "path". These were pile of stones with trees and pieces of shrubs held upright to be a hindrance to a clear way. The last unit were the "stampeders" whose job was to make noise to rile the herd and start them to panic. When this was accomplished, the "lost calf" got towards the front of the herd to lead them to the cliffs' edge. When the herd got to the edge, he would either jump over the edge to a ledge or run rapidly to get out of their way. This succeeded in having the entire herd run over the cliff and land on the bottom. There were more men waiting below - this was called the "kill" area. They took their clubs and hit the buffalo that weren't dead on their foreheads thereby finishing them off. We watched the movie that depicted this and it wasn't an easy movie to watch. I realize that this was a necessary way of life for the Indians, but still, you had to have sympathy for the animals. Now I bet you are thinking the name of this place is because the buffaloes had their heads smashed in, right? Nope - the story goes like this as narrated by one young native on the grounds; there was a young boy that was interested in viewing this hunt from underneath the cliff. While he was watching - out of the way so he wouldn't get hurt - he went nearer to examine one of the herd that appeared dead. When he got close, the buffalo kicked him into the direct path of the herd coming over the cliff and he was buried underneath. When the other natives got to the bottom of the heap during their processing of the herd for meat and anything else they could use from the animal, they discovered this young lad on the bottom with his "head smashed in" - ergo - the name!

Here are a couple of pictures while we were at the center, including this one of a Marmot. He had climbed up on one of the supporting walls and had taken a nice little nap. He woke up just as I took his picture. Sure is a cute little guy!