The Blackfoot were mainly large-game hunters and were often dependent on the buffalo for their diet. According to St. Rosemary Educational Institution, 2015, the Blackfeet had four main methods of hunting. The first was called the “surround”. This method required the use of horses and was done by surrounding the herd after they were shot down. In the book, The Blackfeet, the authors discusses with a Blood Indian named Weasel Tail, the process of “the surround” hunting method.
“After swift-running men located a herd of buffalo, the chief told all the women to get their dog travois. Men and women went out together, approaching the herd from down wind so the animals wouldn’t get their scent and run off. The women were told to place their travois upright in the earth, small [front] end up. The travois were so spaced that they could be tied together to form a semicircular fence. Women and dogs hid behind them while two fast-running men circled the buffalo herd, approached the animals from up wind, and drove them toward the travois fence. Other men took positions along the sides of the route and closed inas the buffalo neared the travois barrio. Barking dogs and shouting women kept the buffalo back. The men rushed in and killed the buffalo with arrows and lances.” –Weasel Tail (Member of the Blood Band)
Another method which most individuals have heard about, was accomplished by driving the buffalo down cliff, where many of them would die or else be injured enough to not be able and escape. According to King, 2010, men would disguise themselves as animals and have the children wave blankets which would make the buffalo stampede. As the bison crashed to the base of the cliff, other hunters moved and killed the animals with short spears. The women were not far behind and would move quickly to butcher the animals, knowing that the meat would rapidly spoil in the baking prairie heat (p. 6).
Image 1: Buffalo Jump
The third method used was impounding, which is similar to modern day cow herding. The Blackfeet would build a corral and wait for the buffalo to get close enough in order to scare them into the coral so they could kill them. The corral was sloped downhill and icy so when the buffalo would go in they were unable to climb out (refer to image 2 below). Weasel Tail recalls how before the drive would begin a prayer would be said to bring the buffalo, “Give me one buffalo or more. Help me to fall the buffalo.” (Ewers, 1958, p. 13).
Image 2: Buffalo Corral
The last method used was to encircle the buffalo herd with fire. The hunters would leave an opening at which they would wait since it was the animals’ only escape (St. Rosemary Educational Institution, 2015).
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