At Head-Smashed-In, the Blackfoot people share thousands of years of cultural heritage with the rest of the world. For the Blackfoot people, the buffalo was a vital component in sustaining life. Virtually every part of the animal served a function; providing food, clothing, shelter, utensils and tools. A successful hunt could mean the difference between life and death. To assure victory, the hunters devised a complex system of herding buffalo to a pre-destined place where they would be tricked into stampeding over a cliff. Developed more than eight thousand years ago, the “buffalo jump” was still in use as recently as the 1870's. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, in southern Alberta, is the largest, oldest, and best preserved example in the world.