     Imagining Head Smashed In: Aboriginal Buffalo Hunting on the Northern Plains I thought was a very informative read. There were a lot of interesting content that was new to me. Some important point I found the multitude of Bison in the Northern Plains, how they decided which bison were the ideal bison to hunt, and finally the Buffalo Jump.
     There is no doubt that back in the 1800s there wasn’t a shortage of bison in the Northern Plain. Historians traveled from their homelands to discover these magnificent beasts. Millions upon millions of bison roamed free on the lands. In the reading Jack Brink quoted the famous Lewis and Clark (p. 35) “that form of eminence we discovered more than we we had ever seen before … we convinced that twenty thousand would be no exaggerated number.” Or the very well seasoned fur trader and hunter, Alexander Henry, woke to find himself surrounded entirely with bison and what he claimed as having “the ground was covered at every point of the compass,” (p. 35)
     In order to survive in the north the aboriginal peoples diets consisted of a lot of fat, therefore them wanting to hunt the fattiest bison around, in order to keep their health and energy levels up. The aboriginals had different ways to communicate bison, on their size, gender, and age, which would help them determine which ones to hunt. For instance size they didn’t want the lean bison since they needed the fat. For gender, males were a lot more meatier than females for longer times of the year and females were more lean until they got pregnant or were producing milk. Then for age, the young are lean until they are in there first year then they gain 100 kg then they start looking like the ideal prey.
     For the amount of analyzing the aboriginals had to do over time to get hunting down to a science is pretty amazing since they only observed them and a lot of trial and error. Which make me think that the aboriginals weren’t exactly trying harder to hunt but they were hunting smarter. Which make the Buffalo Jump probably easier. They were able to pick the few out of the herd that they could move towards to cliffs in order for them to get them. They also I to learn the patterns of the bisons, the weight gain and lose pattern, seasonal patterns between behaviour, habitat, and biology in order to have a good hunt.
     Throughout reading portion of the book, I was learned about aboriginals and the bison in the Northern Plains of Canada, and opened my eyes to the keen intellect that the aboriginals had with their land and immense bison that roamed it. The way they studied bison’s stature, and their patterns to be able to survive. It truly is remarkable.