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Plains Anthropologist
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Better homes and pastures: Human agency and

the construction of place in communal bison
hunting on the Northern Plains
Gerald Anthony Oetelaar
To cite this article: Gerald Anthony Oetelaar (2014) Better homes and pastures: Human
agency and the construction of place in communal bison hunting on the Northern Plains,
Plains Anthropologist, 59:229, 9-37, DOI: 10.1179/2052546X13Y.0000000004
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/2052546X13Y.0000000004
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Date: 25 August 2016, At: 02:45
plains anthropologist, Vol. 59 No. 229, February, 2014, 937
ARTICLE
Better homes and pastures: Human

agency and the construction of place in
communal bison hunting on the
Northern Plains
Gerald Anthony Oetelaar
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Although communal bison hunting has long captured the interest of northern
Plains archaeologists, few have explored the actions of the people who created
the impressive kill sites located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Instead, the effectiveness of bison hunters has been attributed to their understanding of the local climate and topography, the grassland ecosystem, and
the behavior of their prey. What is overlooked in this ecological explanation
of bison hunting is the role of humans as active agents in the management
of the landscape, the control of herd movement, and the maintenance of
the kill complex. Moreover, the behaviors of the hunters were guided by very
different perceptions of the relationships between humans and animals. My
objective is to incorporate the actions of human communities in the execution
of successful bison hunts with specific reference to the strategies employed by
the Blackfoot and their ancestors.
keywords communal bison hunting, northern Plains, Blackfoot, human
agency
Ecological approaches in the study of hunter-gatherer societies often assume the

presence of natural ecosystems whose structures are determined primarily by
climate as modified locally by topography, drainage, and soil parent material
(e.g., Kelly 1995). Similarly, economic models of hunter-gatherer subsistence and
settlement assume the presence of rational actors who adapt to the biophysical
Plains Anthropological Society 2014
DOI 10.1179/2052546X13Y.0000000004
10
BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES
environment through a variety of strategies (e.g., Jochim 1976). That is, patterned
movement across the landscape is constrained by the spatial (i.e., patch distribution)
and temporal (i.e., seasonality) clustering of resources (e.g., Binford 1980). Similarly,
short-term harvesting methods are designed to maximize or optimize the caloric
return (e.g., Winterhalder and Smith 1981) while long-term collection strategies
are devised to sustain the population without exceeding the carrying capacity of
the environment (e.g., Casteel 1979; Winterhalder 1994). In ecological approaches
the ecosystem structures the adaptive strategies of human groups allowing researchers to construct models where systemic change is predictable and amenable to
empirical study.
Current debates on the role of humans as agents of global climate change have
prompted some ecologists to change their perspectives on the nature and predictability
of ecosystem relationships and to argue instead for the importance of disturbances1
and historical contingency as elements of system change (Botkin 1990; Zimmerer
1994). To these researchers, nature no longer provides simple homeostatic answers
because system change is directional and dependent on a unique succession of historical events. More importantly, humans are viewed as integral components of the ecosystem and important agents of disturbance and change. Through time, people
evaluated their options based on their understanding of the world and implemented
management decisions relating to resources of importance to their livelihood (Oetelaar and Oetelaar 2007, 2008). While acknowledging the actions of humans today
as contributing to global climate change, many researchers see such anthropogenic
factors as having only a limited influence on the structure and function of past ecosystems. To these researchers, explanatory models based on ecosystem relationships in
natural environments can still provide appropriate theoretical frameworks for the
study of hunter-gatherer adaptations on the North American plains (Bamforth 1988).
Even the concept of a natural or pristine environment in North America at the
time of contact has been challenged by researchers who argue for the presence of
a managed landscape (e.g., Denevan 1992; Dickinson 1995; Oetelaar and Oetelaar
2007). Although many researchers today acknowledge the impact of indigenous
horticulturalists and agriculturalists on the supposed natural or pristine environments of North America, few are willing to accept the extent of landscape management by hunter-gatherer populations. In fact, the evidence for niche construction
among hunter-gatherers in North America is accumulating at a startling pace
(e.g., Johnson 2000; Lewis 1982; Peacock 1998; Peacock and Turner 2000). Even
bison hunters such as the Blackfoot harvested and transplanted selected plants,
managed specific resource patches, and used controlled burns to influence animal
behavior (e.g., Oetelaar and Oetelaar 2007, 2008). These practices were responsible
for altering the nature and extent of the grasslands and for creating a series of microniches with concentrations of desirable resources. At the same time, the actions of
hunter-gatherers influenced the health, reproductive success, and migratory habits
of bison and changed the competitive environment between the endemic and introduced species. In effect, both anthropogenic and natural interactions among species
contributed to the structure and function of the ecosystem and archaeologists must
attempt to incorporate this aspect of human agency in their interpretations of
hunter-gatherer subsistence and settlement strategies.
OETELAAR
11
The management strategies of the Blackfoot people, like those of so many other
First Nations (Berkes et al. 2000; Bird-David 1992; Brightman 2002; DavidsonHunt and Berkes 2003; Feit 1994; Nadasday 2007; Williams and Hunn 1982),
were guided by very different perceptions of the systemic relationships between
humans and the world around them. To the Blackfoot, people are an integral part
of nature, as are streams and mountains, plants, and animals (Bastien 2004;
Heavy Head 2005; Yellowhorn 1993, 2002). Moreover, humans play an essential
and reciprocal role in helping to maintain an orderly balance in nature through
their proper conduct in daily practice, rituals, and ceremonies. Guidance for this
role comes not from ecology but from legendary heroes or ancestral beings who traveled across the landscape creating the mountain ranges, the foothills, the precipices,
the scattered boulders, the entrenched river valleys, the springs, the cottonwood
groves, the bison pastures, the berry patches, and the lithic sources (Blackfoot
Gallery Committee 2001; Bullchild 1985; Grinnell 1962; McClintock 1968;
Wissler and Duvall 1908). These spirit beings also control the weather (Blackfoot
Gallery Committee 2001:1617; Fraser 1968:710) and the availability of plants
and animals. The very presence of these features and resources on the landscape is
evidence of the actions of ancestral beings and proof of the events described in the
oral traditions.
Long ago, the Blackfoot established sacred alliances with the spirits who control
the availability of resources and these alliances are maintained through rituals in
which the Blackfoot communicate and negotiate directly with the spirits (Bastien
2004; Chumak 1988; Grinnell 1962; Heavy Head 2005; McClintock 1968; Peat
1996; Yellowhorn 2002). The rituals and negotiations with the spirits tend to
occur at specific places on the Northwestern Plains and are designed to restore the
cosmic balance. To maintain or restore the cosmic balance, the Blackfoot people
annually retrace the footsteps of their ancestors stopping near the landmarks
created by their heroes, remembering the names of the places, retelling the associated
stories, and repeating the appropriate rituals. On this annual pilgrimage, historical
journey, and social odyssey, the people move along a network of paths connecting
named places scattered across their homeland. The narratives, songs, and rituals
associated with these places enshrine the codes of ethical conduct and the reciprocal
obligations towards the land, the resources, and the people (e.g., Oetelaar and Oetelaar 2006; Uhlenbeck 1911). To Blackfoot people then, the resources are there
because their ancestors visited the places and the living community must continue
this tradition so that future generations can enjoy the homeland and its resources.
This conservation ethic is responsible for the establishment, repeated use, maintenance, and spiritual attachment to important places such as bison jumps and the
associated complexes (e.g., Little Bear 1998). In other words, the Blackfoot practiced conservation management strategies to fulfill their spiritual and reciprocal obligations in a world of animate beings not to satisfy some western ecological
imperative (see Oetelaar and Oetelaar 2008).
Many archaeologists studying communal bison hunting on the Northwestern
Plains assume that the Blackfoot and their ancestors were effective bison hunters
because they understood the local climate and topography, the grassland ecosystem,
and the behavior of their prey. What is overlooked in this ecological explanation of
12
communal bison hunting is the role of humans as active agents in the management of
the landscape, the control of herd movement, and the maintenance of the kill
complex. My objective in this paper is to incorporate the actions of human communities in the execution of successful bison hunts with specific reference to the strategies employed by the Blackfoot and their ancestors. I will begin by defining the
spatial and temporal context of this study before reviewing the nature of the available evidence. I will then briefly describe the components of the kill complex, summarize previous interpretations of their respective contributions to the success of the
hunt, and then outline the roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the
communal bison hunt. Even though the actions of the people are guided by a very
different worldview, the material correlates of those behaviors offer new insights
on the social and ideological aspects of communal hunting.
The context
The communal hunting of bison on the plains of North America has a long history
with bone beds dating back at least 11,000 years, if not more. Further, the kill sites
are distributed over a wide geographical region extending from southern Alberta to
Texas and from the Rocky Mountains to the eastern margins of the Great Plains.
However, the classic pattern of communal bison hunting is restricted geographically
to the Northwestern Plains and temporally to the last 2,000 or 3,000 years (Bamforth 2011; Cooper 2008). For purposes of this discussion, I will concentrate on
the kill sites located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with evidence of use
during the late Precontact period. Although some of these bone beds have been
looted or exploited for the production of fertilizer and gun powder (Davis 1978),
others have been the object of systematic investigations beginning with Browns
(1932) excavations at the Emigrant bison drives and Lewis (1940) research on
kill sites in the vicinity of Great Falls, Montana. The first symposium on buffalo
jumps was held on April 15, 1961 at the annual meeting of the Montana Archaeological Society in Billings, Montana (Malouf and Conner 1962). At this meeting, the
presenters concentrated on the nature and organization of the communal hunt
(Arthur 1962; Schaeffer 1962), on the components of the drive complex (Conner
1962a, 1962b; Malouf 1962), and on the projectile points recovered in the bone
beds (Forbis 1962a). By the 1970s, the research interests of archaeologists shifted
towards the analysis of the actual bone beds, with particular emphasis on the seasonality of the kill, the composition of the herd, and the butchering strategies used to
process the kill (Frison 1970, 1971, 1978; Quigg 1974, 1978). This research was
summarized in a series of papers presented at the 32nd annual Plains Conference
and subsequently published as Memoir 14 of Plains Anthropologist (Davis and
Wilson 1978). In the 1980s, researchers concentrated more on the ecology of
bison herds and the evolution of communal hunting strategies, including the aggregation and dispersal of human groups throughout the year (e.g., Bamforth 1988;
Epp 1988; Hanson 1984; Morgan 1980). By the 1990s, the emphasis shifted to
the nutritional aspects of the kill, especially the fat content of the meat and bones
at different times of the year (e.g., Emerson 1990). More recently, researchers
have attempted to synthesize and integrate the historical, ethnographic, ecological,
OETELAAR
13
and archaeological data into comprehensive descriptions and interpretations of the

communal bison hunt (Brink 2008) and the influence of bison migrations on the
settlement patterns of the Plains bison hunters (Peck 2004).
The evidence
The early ethnographic and archaeological models of communal bison hunting
relied primarily on historical accounts with only occasional references to particular
aspects of bison behavior. Eyewitness accounts of communal bison drives are
available in the journals of Anthony Henday (17541755) (Belyea 2000; Burpee
1908), Matthew Cocking (17721773) (Cocking 1909), Alexander Henry (1760
1776) (Bain 1901) David Thomspon (17801783) (Coues 1965; Glover 1962;
Tyrrell 1968), Edward Umfreville (1790), Peter Fidler (17921793) (Haig 1991;
MacGregor 1998), Daniel Harmon (18001816) (Lamb 1957), Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark (18051806) (Moulton 1987), and Alexander Henry (1809
1810) (Gough 1992). Of these, only the accounts of David Thompson and Peter
Fidler refer to the use of communal bison drives in the foothills region of the Northwestern Plains. Although the historic descriptions of communal bison drives provide
valuable information on certain aspects of the archaeological record, most of these
accounts were recorded after the introduction of the horse and gun, innovations
which disrupted the nature of the collective effort (Ewers 2001; Lewis 1942;
Wissler 1914). That is, the communal bison drive gradually gave way to individual
hunters pursuing the animals on horseback. As early as 1820, the excessive predation resulting from the advent of the fur trade also disrupted bison migration patterns (Bamforth 1987; Hornaday 1889).Therefore, the historical accounts were
capable of providing descriptions of bison drives but these sources were sometimes
perceived to be unreliable depictions of communal bison hunts as practiced during
the precontact era (e.g., Frison 1978).
As part of their research on the lifeways of the Blackfoot people, several ethnographers and historians collected data on the traditional hunting strategies used by these
groups. Thus, George Grinnell (1962), Clark Wissler (1910), Samuel A. Barrett
(1921), Claude Schaeffer (1962, 1978), John Ewers (1958), and Hugh Dempsey
(Forbis 1962b) visited kill sites in the foothills of Alberta and Montana and recorded
the observations of Blackfoot informants on the nature of the communal hunt and the
associated facilities. Unfortunately, few of the Blackfoot informants had actually witnessed a communal bison drive and thus relied on the stories of elders in the community. For these reasons, these historical accounts were also seen as being incapable of
providing an accurate picture of communal bison hunts in the pre-horse days (e.g.,
Frison 1978). Similar objections have been raised about the use of oral traditions
to reconstruct the spiritual aspects of the bison hunt. Unlike the accounts of communal bison hunting, the oral traditions of the Blackfoot people have been and continue
to be transmitted down through the generations, but the accuracy of such historical
narratives has been questioned given the disruptions caused by epidemics, missionaries, and residential schools (e.g., Mason 2000; McGhee 2008).
To compensate for this lack of information, archaeologists turned to the ecological literature and studies of bison behavior. Unfortunately, the immense herds of
14
Plains bison were essentially decimated before ecologists were able to record certain
aspects of their behavior such as the annual migrations (e.g., Hornaday 1889). In an
attempt to reconstruct the seasonal movements of the precontact bison herds,
researchers relied on historical data (e.g., Roe 1951) and the migratory habits of
smaller herds living within national parks, wildlife refuges, and state wildlife areas
(Fuller 1960; McHugh 1958, 1972; Soper 1941). The results of these studies were
inconsistent, with some researchers arguing for clearly defined and predictable
annual migrations whereas others suggested that the seasonal movements were
erratic and unpredictable. Moodie and Ray (1976: 83) interpreted the high degree
of documented variation in the timing and extent of bison migrations as a predictable response to variables such as prairie fires and unusually mild winter conditions
(see also Clow 1995; Malainey and Sherriff 1996). Not surprisingly, archaeologists
tended to accept the conclusions of those researchers whose interpretations of bison
behavior agreed with their models of communal bison hunting (e.g., Bamforth 1988;
Epp 1988; Hanson 1984; Malainey and Sherriff 1996; Morgan 1980; Peck 2004).
The management of the smaller bison herds within the wildlife refuges necessitated detailed analyses of bison diets and the annual culling of the herd. The
grazing and dietary habits of the animals provided important new information on
the seasonal preferences for certain grasses, thus offering new research opportunities
to reconstruct the probable migration patterns of precontact herds (e.g., Chisholm
et al. 1986; Leyden and Oetelaar 2001; Leyden et al. 2006). To assess the age of
the animals during the annual cull, wildlife management personnel devised jawboards for use in the field and prepared decalcified thin sections of individual
teeth in the laboratory to derive even more accurate age estimates (Fuller 1959,
1962). They also measured the fat content of the meat and bones at different
times of the year to evaluate the health of the herd. In addition, the annual culling
of the herds generated samples of skeletal elements from animals of known age,
sex, weight, and season of death. These new data have been incorporated into the
revised models of bison herd composition and migratory behavior and the seasonality of communal hunts (Emerson 1990; Peck 2004; Morlan 1991; Walde 2004).
Human agency and the kill complex

Although several different strategies have been used to hunt bison communally, I will
concentrate primarily on the bison jump and pound, the complex most commonly
represented in the foothills region of Alberta and Montana. The five components
of this complex identified by Conner (1962a) include (1) the grazing area or gathering basin, (2) the drive lanes, (3) the cliff, (4) the bone beds, and (5) the nearby camp
site and processing area (Figure 1). To many researchers, the Blackfoot and their
ancestors were effective bison hunters because they understood their prey and
designed each component of the jump complex to exploit some aspect of bison
biology or behavior (e.g., Bamforth 1988; Brink 2008; Cooper 2008). Although
the Blackfoot certainly had an intimate knowledge of bison, to them, the success
of the communal hunt depended on the actions and behaviors of the people. Of particular importance were the relationships of trust and reciprocity between the people
OETELAAR
15
figure 1 Sketch showing the components of the bison jump complex: (A) gathering basin,
(B) drive lanes, (C) precipice, (D) bone bed, and (E) campsite (adapted from Conner 1962a).
and the spirits who created the landscape, who controlled the weather, who made
the grasses grow, and who influenced the behavior of the animals. These spirits
and ancestral beings left behind instructions for the design, construction, and
proper use of the bison jump complex. To the Blackfoot the success of the communal
bison hunt depended on the faithful reenactment of events described in the legends
of long ago. The material correlates of these actions are the focus of the present
discussion.
Grazing area
Although bison kill sites occur throughout the Northwestern Plains, the centre of the
buffalo jump area is in the foothills of Alberta and Montana (Figure 2) where
environmental parameters favor this type of communal hunt (Davis and Wilson
1978; Malouf and Conner 1962). The dissected topography and wooded valleys,
for example, provide shelter from the cold winter winds, whereas the precipices
provide ideal settings for buffalo jumps (Forbis 1962a:67; Verbicky-Todd
1984:111). At the same time, the chinook winds regularly clear the vegetation of
snow allowing the animals to access winter forage. These environmental parameters
are the result of natural processes and thus beyond the control of humans. The topography, for example, is the product of orogeny, glaciations, and erosion, whereas the
warm chinook winds are the result of an adiabatic warming of Pacific air on the
leeward slopes after losing moisture on the windward side of the Rocky Mountains.
Although the Blackfoot people recognize the importance of these environmental parameters, they attribute the creation and maintenance of the landscape and the
control of the weather to spirit beings. Thus, Napi created the dissected topography
16
figure 2 Map of Northwestern Plains showing locations of bison jumps within the Blackfoot homeland (Montana sites from Davis 1978, Figure 23.15).
of the foothills and made snow from goose feathers, Raven caused the cold winter
winds by flapping his wings (The Blackfoot Gallery 2001), and a young orphan
boy and his animal friends released the chinook winds from the grip of a bear
(Fraser 1968:79). To ensure favorable weather and conditions for the hunt, the
Blackfoot observe the rules of proper conduct and make offerings to the relevant
spirits at appropriate places on the landscape. The material correlates of these offerings include the presence of pictographs, petroglyphs, boulder monuments, rock
alignments, and petroforms scattered across the landscape and near bison jump
complexes.
In addition to the topography and climate, the native fescue grassland of the foothills provided winter forage for bison. The ideal winter feed for bison is a plant community dominated by Festuca scabrella or buffalo bunch grass, which grows
naturally in the foothills (Coupland and Brayshaw 1953). To the ecologists, the
OETELAAR
17
primary determinants of this plant community are climate, especially effective moisture, and black soils enhanced by the dense root system of fescue grasses (Coupland
1950; Coupland and Brayshaw 1953; Moss 1932, 1944; Moss and Campbell
1947). Grazing, insolation, high soil temperatures, high air temperatures, high evaporation rates, and strong westerly winds also contribute to the maintenance of this plant
association. Although excessive summer grazing can decrease the proportional representation of fescue in the foothills (Willms et al. 1985), higher levels of grazing are
tolerable if the activity is limited to the season of complete dormancy (Johnston and
MacDonald 1967:582). For buffalo bunch grass, dormancy begins in early October
just as the bison were returning to their winter range in the partially wooded
country. During the winter, fescue does lose a great deal of its protein causing the
bison to disperse in small herds, each group seeking shelter in the numerous valleys
adjoining the grazing areas scattered throughout the foothills (Brink 2008:64).
Today, trees are encroaching on the fescue grasslands partly because of fire suppression
efforts, especially during prolonged episodes of drought when lightning threatens to
ignite the dry grasses (Breitung 1954; Moss 1932:392). To many researchers, the
local climate, topography and natural vegetation of the foothills created a series of
fescue pastures for the dispersed bison herds who sought shelter in the dissected
terrain during the winter months (e.g., Brink 2008). People adapted to the behavior
of bison by moving into the foothills during the fall and relying on communal
hunting strategies to store sufficient food for the winter months.
Although buffalo bunch grass is the ideal winter forage for bison, its presence in
the foothills is not the result of climate, soils, and natural fires. Instead, this unique
plant association was created by the deliberate actions of the Blackfoot and their
ancestors who were following the instructions set forth in the narrative of Napi
and the fire leggings (Grinnell 1962:167168; McClintock 1968:347348; Wissler
and Duvall 1908:3132, 3739). Although the recent encroachment of trees on
the grasslands has been attributed to climate change, bison extirpation and
historic fire suppression (Archibold and Wilson 1980; Campbell et al. 1994;
Hildebrand and Scott 1987; Strong 1977), the suppression of anthropogenic fires
appears to have been the critical factor because humans used low intensity burns
to maintain the native prairie in the foothills and the adjoining mountain valleys
(e.g., Anderson and Nabhan 1991; Boyd 1999; Budiansky 1995; Pyne 1982,
2006; Vale 2002, 2006). To substantiate these claims, the proponents of anthropogenic burning use oral history, historical documents, fire scars in tree rings, pollen
records, and charcoal accumulation rates in lake cores (Barrett 1981; Barrett and
Arno 1982, 1999; Gruell 1985; Higgins 1986; Lewis and Ferguson 1999; Nelson
and England 1971; Stewart 1955, 2002). Opponents of human involvement in
this management strategy discredit many of the historical accounts because of (1)
low population density, (2) observer bias, (3) failure to observe ignitions, and (4)
ignorance of lightnings role in starting fires (Baker 2002; Johnson and Miyanishi
2001, 2007). They also dismiss tree ring-based fire histories as of limited utility
and question the ability of researchers to distinguish anthropogenic from natural
fires using pollen or charcoal data. To the proponents of natural fires then,
climate is the controlling factor in fire regimes and lightning is the source of ignition
(e.g., Baker 2002).
18
To some extent, the proponents and critics of anthropogenic burning have failed
to examine properly the available historical evidence by selecting specific passages
without taking into account the background of the observations or the agendas of
the observers. In this context, the observations of Peter Fidler (Haig 1991) who
spent the winter of 17921793 with a group of Peigan in the foothills of southern
Alberta are very informative. Fidler left Buckingham House in early November
1792 and traveled as far south as the Oldman River before returning to the post
in late March 1793. His primary goals were to learn the language and lifeways of
the Peigan, to examine the economic promise of the area in terms of fur bearing
animals, and to explore the potential of establishing trade relations with groups
living west of the mountains. During his travels, Fidler also recorded observations
on the manners and customs of the people as well as on the ecology and geography
of the foothills. His observations on prairie fires are particularly informative because
they clearly reveal the management strategies of the Piikani.
During his travels, Fidler encountered active fires or recently burned areas on 31
separate days and discussed the role of humans and lightning as sources of ignition.
At this time of year, however, lightning cannot be invoked as the cause of fires
because atmospheric conditions are simply not appropriate. In the foothills of southwestern Alberta, an area subjected to the most violent summer thunderstorms in
North America, lightning strikes are absent during the months of November,
December, January, and February, extremely rare during the months of March,
April, May, September, and October and very common during the months of
May, June, July, and August (Burrows et al. 2002). Therefore, Fidler was traveling
through the area during the months when lightning strikes were absent or extremely
rare and, not surprisingly, he heard thunder only once on March 18, 1793 as he
approached Buckingham House (Haig 1991:92). Clearly then, humans, not lightning, started the fires encountered by Fidler on his journey through the Porcupine
Hills between November 1792 and March 1793.
Although Fidler describes extensive areas of burning or burnt grass, he also notes
that his traveling companions invariably ended the days journey in the vicinity of an
aspen, cottonwood, or pine grove. In fact, he explicitly describes how people protected themselves and their possessions from wild grass fires by simply burning
the understory of the grove before the fire reached the area (Haig 1991:36). Even
though extensive tracts of land were burning or recently burnt, Fidler also noted
the presence of fine meadows near some active buffalo jumps, encampments with
2,000 horses grazing in a fine level pasture near tents, and large herds of buffalo
at a number of locations along the way. Obviously then, the burning of the
prairie at this time and in this portion of the homeland was far from being indiscriminant. Rather, the strategy seems to have been designed to maintain pastures for
the horses and to concentrate bison in the grazing areas of specific jumps and
their associated drive lane complexes. Therefore, the Blackfoot not only created
and managed the distribution of fescue prairie but they also directed the movement
and dispersal of the herds wintering in the foothills. More importantly, the scheduling and implementation of such a coordinated burning strategy extending across
hundreds of kilometers of foothills required the cooperation and collaboration of
a large number of people.
OETELAAR
19
Drive lanes
The archaeological evidence for the drive lane systems consists of rock cairn alignments which converge towards the precipice. Although few intact lines of rock cairns
exist today, the original drive lanes probably extended from the top of the bluff or
precipice to the margins of the gathering basin or grazing area. The diverging
lines were approximately 20 to 30 meters apart at the cliff and more than a kilometer
apart near the grazing area several kilometers distant. Where preserved, the piles of
rock are spaced at regular intervals ranging from 3 to 7 m although the spacing
decreases as one approaches the precipice. The small cairns which include 5 to 15
rocks rarely project more than 10 cm above the surrounding ground surface
(Brink and Rollans 1990:155158). Given their size, the cairns were assumed to
be too small to conceal a person as indicated in the historical accounts and thus
must have served some other purpose. Consequently, the drive lanes have been interpreted as traffic markers for orienting the drivers position in relation to the herd
(Frison 1974:16), as mnemonic devices to preserve the knowledge about successful
drive lanes, as permanent marking systems for larger perishable bundles of brush or
piles of buffalo chips, and as supports or anchors for sticks or branches from small
trees and shrubs (Brink and Rollans 1990). Whatever their design, the drive lanes
were constructed to take advantage of the bisons poor eye sight and to direct the
movement of the herd towards the precipice.
To the Blackfoot, the instructions on how to construct and use the drive lanes were
provided by Beaver in the star legend of The Twin Brothers (Wissler and Duvall
1908:49) and by the woman who directed the first buffalo calling ceremony after
receiving her instructions from the iniskim (Barrett 1921). In each narrative, the
cairns or sometimes alternating stacks of rocks and buffalo chips are arranged in
lines extending back from the precipice. During the hunt, the people are directed
to lie behind the decoys and to rise up shouting and waving their robes as the
bison pass by. Regardless of the time, energy, and people required to design, construct, and operate the drive lanes, this ritual of control would be repeated during
all drives because failure to do so would jeopardize the success of the ongoing
and all subsequent communal hunts.
The individual cairns identified in the archaeological record are small, but the
number of features in a single line of cairns extending some 2 to 4 km from the
jump to the grazing area is often quite impressive. For example, the longest and
most complete rock alignment at the Kutoyis bison hunting locality extends for a
distance of 7 km and includes a minimum of 1,980 rock cairns (Zedeo et al.
2008:16). The rocks used in the construction of these cairns were apparently collected nearby and, based on the experimental work of Zedeo and her colleagues,
the average cairn can be assembled in about 2.8 minutes. Using this value, a
minimum of 93.3 person hours would be required to construct the 1980 cairns in
the 7 km alignment at Kutoyis. Since two lines of rock cairns of roughly the same
length are required, the total labor involved in the construction of the drive lanes
at Kutoyis would approximate 186.6 person hours. In other words, the construction
of the rock cairn alignments at this site could be accomplished by one person
working 23 8 hour days or 23 people working one 8 hour day.
20
Assuming that the rock cairns identified in the archaeological record represent the
total investment of time in the construction of drive lanes, this one-time effort could
easily be accomplished by a small group of related households. Further, the maintenance of the drive lanes would involve very little human capital after the initial construction. If, on the other hand, the cairns served as supports or anchoring devices
for sticks from small trees and shrubs forming part of a wind-resistant, composite
cairn structure (Brink and Rollans 1990), then these organic components would
have to be replaced every year at a substantial cost in time and energy, especially
in an environment with few trees and shrubs. If the rock cairns served as permanent
markers for buffalo chips as described in the legend of the iniskim, the re-enactment
of this ritual at a site such as Kutoyis would entail the collaborative efforts of more
than 23 people each year.
The energetic costs involved in the construction and maintenance of the drive
lanes, however, may very well pale in comparison to the human capital associated
with the operation of the system. Although most archaeologists assume that the
rock cairns were too small to hide the average human, Fidler clearly describes the
cairns as being of a sufficient height to conceal the presence of individuals lying
flat on the ground as instructed by Beaver. On the day of the drive, community
members would use these rock features to conceal their presence and would then
rise at the appropriate moment to wave their buffalo robes four times while shouting
to direct the animals over the cliff. Under these circumstances, even the small rock
cairns encountered by the archaeologists could have served as screens for a substantial number of people staffing the drive lanes.
Assuming the presence of one individual behind each cairn, as many as 3,960 individuals would have been required for a successful drive at Kutoyis. Such numbers
are obviously excessive. Assuming that people only hid behind every second,
third, or fourth cairn, the success of the hunt would still involve the cooperation
of 1,980, 1,320, or 990 individuals. Although these estimates are well above the
number of hunters normally assumed to have participated in the hunt, they fall
within the range of population estimates derived from the 150 tipis recorded by
Fidler at Oo oose spitcheyee. Assuming an average of eight individuals per lodge,
for example, the encampment at Oo oose spitcheyee would have included 1,200
people whereas some 984 people would have moved south to set up a camp with
123 tipis at two nearby pounds. Even if Fidlers estimate of the number of lodges
is inflated, the successful operation of a bison drive in the foothills would require
much more people than the 24 to 40 adult males envisioned by Frison (1971).
More importantly, the successful operation of the bison drive would require the collaboration and cooperation of members from several different household clusters
who came together to hear the narratives and participate in the ritual of control.
Cliff
The precipice of the bison hunting complex was normally located downwind of the
gathering basin, but in the vicinity of a source of water, either a spring or a small
creek bed. At most sites, the cliff was high enough to kill or seriously maim the
animals and was hidden from view by a false horizon to prevent the lead animal
OETELAAR
21
from recognizing the imminent danger until the very last moment. Cliffs facing
northeast or downwind of the gathering basin were preferred to prevent the
animals from detecting the people waiting at the trap or the stench of dead carcasses
from previous kills. In addition, lead animals rushing towards the cliff at dawn
would be blinded by the glare of the rising sun. After a successful hunt, the carcasses
of the dead animals would be protected from the warm rays of the sun by the shade
of the precipice. This cool setting reduced the rate of spoilage and allowed the
hunters more time to process the kill (Forbis 1962a:69). The precipices with the
best constellation of features were therefore the ones most frequently used for communal hunts.
To the Blackfoot, the selection of a particular precipice as a suitable location for a
bison jump was based on historical events described in the legends as indicated by
the names for important valleys in the foothills, many of which include a descriptor
preceding the word piskun or some variant thereof. Literally translated as
deep-blood-kettle (Grinnell 1962:228), piskun is the Blackfoot word for a bison
pound or kill location. The narratives associated with some of the place names
describe events of the distant or recent past. Long ago before the first marriage,
for example, men and women used separate kill sites identified by the Blackfoot
people as nina piskun and aki piskun, respectively. In the legend, these
piskuns are located very close to the place where Napi first created man and
woman at the north end of the Porcupine Hills. The womens piskun is today
known as the Old Womens Buffalo Jump (Forbis 1962b) whereas the mens
piskun is located along Jumping Pound Creek west of Calgary (Dempsey 1956).
Such place names and associated narratives encapsulate the world view of the Blackfoot, their understanding of humananimal relationships and their ritual attachment
to specific bison kill locales where non-human relatives offered themselves to the
people.
Once selected, the success or failure of the precipice would be attributed to the
actions of the people not the intrinsic qualities of the cliff. Unsuccessful attempts
to lure the animals over the precipice implied human failure to observe a ritual obligation, but such indiscretions could sometimes be corrected by the performance of a
buffalo calling ceremony as witnessed by Fidler on December 28, 1792. Similarly,
the decision to discontinue the use of a specific precipice or pound would be
based on the recommendation of a spirit being or the result of a vision by a
member of the community. The narrative of Ahksi Omaipiskan or Good Piskan
outlines the basis of such a decision. Ahksi Omaipiskan is the name applied to a
kill site located on the south side of the Teton River about nine miles above the
town of Choteau, Montana. The Peigans supposedly used this buffalo fall for the
last time in 1844 or 1846 (Ewers 1949). In this case, a young buffalo bull came
to Many Tail Feathers in a dream and told him to burn the corral because
the Peigans were killing off all of his buffalo children. Many Tail Feathers acceded
to the buffalo bulls request for help and burned the corral. The decision to
discontinue the use of this particular precipice was not dependent on the intrinsic
qualities of the local topography but on the spiritual connection to a non-human
relative and the endless cycle of gift exchanges between the bison and the Blackfoot
people.
22
Bone beds
As early as 1961 archaeologists identified the stratified bone deposits at kill sites as
evidence of repetitive use over hundreds of years and used the projectile points
recovered from the superimposed bone beds to establish local culture histories
(Arthur 1962; Forbis 1962a, 1962b; Kehoe 1967; Reeves 1978). By the
mid-1960s, researchers began to examine the actual faunal remains and to derive
seasonality estimates and population parameters from specific elements. The
initial results of the seasonality assessments suggested a definite preference for late
fall or early winter kill events when herds were in prime condition (e.g., Frison
1970). Such conclusions were consistent with ethnographic models which postulated that large herds of bison moved from their summer pastures on the open
prairie to their wintering grounds in the foothills and parkland after the rut
(Ewers 1958; Frison 1978; Grinnell 1962; Peck 2004; Reher 1978). In her recent
analysis of Late Prehistoric kill sites in the foothills, Cooper (2008) finds little
support for this annual fall procurement model noting instead a preponderance of
small winter kills when animals were in poor physical condition (see also Arthur
1975, 1978). This conclusion is consistent with Fidlers observations during the
winter of 1792 when he witnessed the repeated use of the same precipices to dispatch
animals from a series of very small herds.
At a number of kill sites, the bone layers appear to become denser through time
suggesting either more frequent use of specific precipices or a greater concentration
on the communal hunt. Reher (1978) interpreted such changes in the reliance on
communal hunting as a direct function of bison productivity. The density and distribution of bison populations available for cooperative exploitation was constrained
by the net primary productivity of the short grass plains which, in turn, reflected climatic fluctuations, as measured by effective moisture and temperature. The predictable movement of the larger herds during favorable climatic episodes influenced the
distribution and organizational complexity of human groups who relied on cooperative bison kills as part of their subsistence strategy (see also Bamforth 1988). Cooper
(2008) finds support for this carrying capacity model for the interval between A.D.
900 and 1549 but not for earlier episodes of higher effective moisture and temperature. I suggest that the change in herd size and the predictability of herd movement
reflect the actions of humans, particularly their management of the grassland
environment through burning.
The majority of kill sites excavated in the foothills also contain layers of burned
bone which Reeves (1990) and Fawcett (1987) attribute to the intensification of
bison hunting during the Late Prehistoric period. Brown (1932:80) interpreted the
burned bone layers as evidence of intentional burning designed to prevent the
stench from causing the animals to balk and refuse the plunge, whereas Lewis
(1940), Forbis (1962b:77), and Kehoe (1967) attributed the charring to incidental
grass fires. Frison (1970:6) identified the practice of burning the accumulated
debris as a strategy designed to allow the repetitive use of a site from year to year.
Overlooked in these explanations of the burned bone layers are practices surrounding the proper disposal of animal remains at the kill site. Among hunter-gatherer
societies around the world, respectful treatment of animal remains constitutes an
OETELAAR
23
important component in the cosmic system of sharing (Brightman 2002; Jordan

2001; Lavrillier 2008; Tanner 1979). Burning the remains of ones non-human
relatives who offered their bodies to the people is viewed as a sign of respect and
appreciation. Assuming that the burning was intentional, the charred and calcined
bones in kill sites may reflect activities associated with such rituals of respect and
reciprocity.
In their detailed analysis of bone deposits at Kutoyis, Zedeo and her collaboators
(2008) used the degree of burning to establish the nature and origin of the fire. Citing
Davids (1990) experiments, they note that nearly 99 percent of the bones exposed to
brush fire developed a carbonized color but only sustained temperatures in excess of
450C and longer heating times were capable of creating calcined bone. The presence of calcined bone at Kutoyis was therefore interpreted as evidence of more
enduring hot spots fueled by dry hide, hair, and stomach contents (Zedeo et al.
2008:22). The presence of extensive calcined deposits at kill sites thus suggests intentional burning of the bone bed. Whether this practice was designed to reduce the
stench of rotting carcasses, decrease the bulk of refuse at the base of the cliff, or
placate the spirits through the ritual disposal of the remains, is a topic in need of
further investigation.
Processing area
Among hunter-gatherers rituals of reciprocity and respect were observed while processing, storing, and consuming the meat after the kill (e.g., Brightman 2002:117
20; Nadasday 2007; Tanner 1979) and the material correlates of such practices
including the ritual disposal of remains should be preserved in the archaeological
remains of the processing area. The work of Brink and Dawe (1989, 2003; Brink
et al. 1985, 1986), particularly their experiments with and detailed analysis of fire
broken rock (FBR) in the processing area of Head-Smashed-In buffalo jump,
provide interesting clues about such behaviors based on the contents of this work
space, the nature and intensity of the associated activities, and the frequency of
site use. At Head-Smashed-In, the sample of FBR comes from the pavement and
the pit features of the processing area. The pavement, which covers most of the processing area, is a compact, surface layer some 25 to 30 cm thick with a dense concentration of small pieces of bone and FBR. Although the local sandstone
bedrock is readily accessible in the immediate area, the great majority of the FBR
consists of cobbles collected from the Oldman River some 2 km south of the site.
In their attempt to explain the great expenditure of time, energy, and labor
involved in the collection and transport of these cobbles, Brink and Dawe (2003)
conducted a series of stone boiling experiments to compare the thermal properties
of the imported quartzite cobbles and the local sandstone. Even though the sandstone was clearly of inferior quality, there was no evidence for the preferential selection and exhaustive use of the quartzite cobbles because all FBR in the pavement had
been reduced to a small size, not just the imported material. Therefore, for reasons
other than the thermal properties of quartzite, these ancient buffalo hunters had, for
hundreds of generations, hauled countless river cobbles several kilometers uphill to
the processing area at Head-Smashed-In. I would argue that the selection and
24
transport of the quartzite cobbles was part of a ritual of reciprocity and respect. As
documented in the legends (Wissler and Duvall 1908:41, 49, 54, 56, 73, 84, 91, 111,
112, 116) and as evident in their daily practices, the Blackfoot people select raw
materials for stone tool manufacture or for use in sweat lodges based on the perceived power of the rock. The qualities of importance are the shape and color of
the rock not its mineralogical, crystallographic, or thermal properties. Moreover,
rocks collected from specific places on the landscape such as the Oldman River
have even more power and therefore represent even more desirable offerings as
part of the ritual.
Brink and Dawe (2003) also sampled a 1 m unit for material smaller than 2 cm
and recovered a mind-numbing 122,000 pieces of FBR weighing 14.1 kg within
the pavement of this unit. In the analysis of materials from pit features, the vast
majority of the FBR were also small (less than 10 cm) with only a small number
of large pieces near the bottom of the features. When examining the entire
sampled area, the smaller pieces of FBR tended to be concentrated within the core
area whereas the larger pieces tended to be more common in the peripheral areas.
Brink and Dawe (2003:102) interpreted the size sorting of heating stones as evidence
of recycling with the larger pieces having re-use potential being displaced to the
margin of the processing area. The nature, density, and arrangement of the
FBR in the processing area are also consistent with the regular maintenance of an
intensively used communal work space (see Oetelaar 1993). The fact that all of
the FBR (not only the cobbles collected from the Oldman River) and all of the
bone fragments exhibit the patterning described above argues in favor of maintenance activities because the size sorting is not influenced by the type of raw material.
Beyond the practical considerations, the systematic collection and discard of
materials generated during the processing of bison carcasses probably fulfilled
specific ritual obligations designed to ensure the future availability and accessibility
of bison.
Although the proper treatment of animal remains at the kill site and in the processing area constitutes an important component in the cosmic system of sharing,
certain rituals of reciprocity and respect require the dedication of special offerings
to ones human-like relatives including the bison. Among hunter-gatherers worldwide, such offerings are placed in the water (e.g., Lavrillier 2008; Tanner 1979),
in the branches of trees (e.g., Brightman 2002:117; Frison 1991:Figure 5.16;
Gordon 1980), on platforms (e.g., Jordan 2001; Tanner 1979), or in special receptacles (e.g., Wilson 1983). The nature and contents of two pits located along the
southern margin of the processing area at Head-Smashed-In are, in fact, interpreted
as evidence of such ritual offerings. One of these somewhat unique features contained an unusual number of intact bison bones including several complete skulls,
several articulated elements, two modified mandibles, and two leg bones (a proximal
phalanx and a tibia) painted with red ochre in deliberate patterns of stripes and
colored patches (Damkjar 1995:66). A second pit contained a substantial
amount of bison bone including most of a large skull and an ochre-painted bone
disc (Damkjar 1995:83). The nature and contents of these features are certainly
consistent with the rituals of reciprocity and respect documented in the ethnographic
literature on hunter-gatherers.
OETELAAR
25
Discussion
Discussions of human agency and the construction of place assign more active roles
to the people who created the archaeological record. Researchers who have adopted
this approach often accuse their processual counterparts of constructing a past
where humans tend to respond to external stimuli such as climate change, resource
fluctuations or demographic pressures while at the same time creating a world where
the decisions and actions of the agents are based on the same underlying economic
and ecological imperatives. In more recent discussions, people have been implicated
as active agents in the construction and management of their homelands although
the motives behind those actions are framed in a western worldview. My argument
is that the actions of communal bison hunters on the Northwestern Plains were
guided by a different worldview and this information must be incorporated in our
discussions of human agency and the construction of place.
On a practical level, one can easily accept the role of human actors in the operation of a successful bison drive and the repeated use of specific complexes. The construction and maintenance of the bison jump complex obviously involves the
cooperation of a substantial number of people. Similarly, burning the prairie
requires the coordinated effort of people who know where to burn and where to
be at specific times of the year. Moreover, the erection of individual cairns does
not require an inordinate amount of human capital nor does the construction of consecutive piles along both arms of the drive lane. Staffing the drive lanes during a successful bison drive and butchering the animals does, however, involve the
collaboration and coordination of a larger number of people. At the same time,
the construction and maintenance of the corral, if necessary, involves a concerted
effort, but the energetic demands associated with the maintenance of bone beds at
the bottom of a precipice tend not to be excessive. Finally, the collection of materials
used in the processing area and the maintenance of this communal work space after
each kill event involves collective effort. Given the time and energy invested in modifying the landscape, the hunters would opt to re-use a locale and the bison kill
complex would thus become the property of a particular social group.
Couching their explanations of the empirical data in ecological and economic
terms, researchers can readily accept such evidence of human agency in the repetitive
use of bison drive complexes. That is, the repeated use of locations such as bison
jumps reflects tactical decisions about site reuse based on costbenefit determinations, particularly those associated with reusing, maintaining, rebuilding, or relocating the features (e.g., Cooper 2008:246). Unfortunately, such interpretations of
the evidence for the repeated use of the bison jump complex reflect our particular
bias and deny the Blackfoot people their unique perspective on the world. To the
Blackfoot people, the repeated use of a piskun represents a spiritual and historical
attachment to place. People returned to the same places at regular intervals to (1)
renew their ties with the local spirits and with their ancestors; (2) remember and
transmit the names of the places and the associated narratives, songs, and rituals;
and (3) regenerate the land and its resources (Oetelaar and Oetelaar 2011). Moreover, each group of households were responsible for specific places and their associated narratives and rituals. In the process, the households collectively contributed to
26
the renewal of the natural and cultural landscape through actions and collaborations
with neighboring groups. Such cooperation and collaboration was necessary to
ensure the survival of the group and was possible because people communicated
their plans by reference to specifically named places on the landscape. More importantly, this connection with the landscape provided the motivation for the management of the vegetation through anthropogenic burning, the maintenance of the drive
lane complexes, and the cooperative efforts of multiple social groups during the
hunt. Interpreted from the Blackfoot perspective then, the repeated use of kill sites
in the foothills is evidence of a spiritual attachment to a place.
Researchers are willing to acknowledge such ideological interpretations, but continue to assign primacy to ecosystem parameters and see oral traditions as providing
justification for the associated human behaviors. In the case of communal bison
hunting by the Blackfoot people, for example, the explanation typically involves
the following logic. Over a long period of time, the Blackfoot developed patterned
behaviors that maximized their efficiency or success within the grassland ecosystem.
Those behaviors, symbolized through stories with characters, animals, and material
items imbued with special significance, would have been passed down to children
and grandchildren through their oral history. With time, these behaviors became
ritualized and eventually the practitioners no longer knew the true origins of the
practices, only that such actions were critical because they resulted in a successful
outcome. Unfortunately, such ecological explanations assign primacy to our cultural
values and our particular worldview while ignoring the worldviews of others as well
as current perspectives on the structure and function of ecosystems. Accepting the
precepts of the new ecology where ecosystem structure and function is the
product of disturbances and historical contingency, the counter argument can be
simply stated as follows. Over long periods of time, the decisions and actions of
the Blackfoot people, guided by their specific worldview, created the very ecosystem
in which they lived. That is, the people created the fescue pastures in the foothills,
managed the biologically diverse resource patches scattered across the landscape,
and influenced the behaviors of animals, including bison. Under those circumstances, the patterned behaviors of the Blackfoot would appear efficient because
those very behaviors created the ecosystem being exploited by the people.
Conclusion
For the past fifty years, interpretations of communal bison hunting have been based
primarily on the ecology and behavior of bison populations, an approach grounded
in our western scientific perspective of the world where the structure and complexity
of the ecosystem influences the nature and organization of human activities. Such
ecological approaches to the study of hunter-gatherers assume the presence of
natural ecosystems whose structures are determined primarily by climate as modified locally by topography, drainage, and soil parent material. The stated advantages
of this approach include its objectivity and its predictive potential. That is, researchers can infer the behavioral responses of human hunters from a detailed knowledge
of the bison populations whose actions are presumably determined by the
OETELAAR
27
availability of food. The application of this theoretical approach to the interpretation of communal bison hunting tends to devalue the role of humans and attribute
a western worldview to the actors involved in the drama.
In the past two decades, the notion of pristine natural ecosystems has been challenged as researchers encounter more and more evidence for the management of
landscapes, even among hunter-gatherers. Moreover, the inconsistencies identified
in the traditional ecological approach undermine the very scientific objectivity of
the entire research enterprise because humans and their actions are integral components of ecosystem structure and function. To incorporate the human factor,
researchers must, of necessity, restrict their discussion to a particular geographical,
temporal, and societal context which, in this case, was the homeland of the Blackfoot people prior to contact with western cultures. They must also recognize that
the perceptions and behaviors of past agents were influenced by very different
world views. However, instead of rejecting such supposed metaphysical explanations as being of limited value, archaeologists must learn to recognize the material
correlates of practices such as rituals of reciprocity and respect.
The behaviors of most hunter-gatherers worldwide are guided not by ecology but
by mythical heroes or ancestral beings who traveled across the landscape creating
mountains, foothills, precipices, boulders, rivers, springs, groves, berry patches,
and lithic sources. These spirit beings also control the weather, the vegetation, and
the faunal resources. Throughout the year, groups retrace the footsteps of their
ancestors stopping near the landmarks created by their heroes, remembering the
names of the places, retelling the associated stories, and repeating the appropriate
rituals. To these people then, the resources are there because their ancestors
visited the places and the people must continue this tradition so that future generations can enjoy the homeland and its resources. This conservation ethic and the
associated rituals of reciprocity and respect are responsible for the establishment
and maintenance of important places such as bison jumps. The people whose
actions were guided by these codes of ethical conduct towards the land and the
resources created and managed the different components of the communal drive
complexes. Moreover, the spiritual attachment of the people to these powerful
places, not the intrinsic qualities of the setting or the technical imperatives of the
complex, account for the repeated use and maintenance of bison jumps scattered
in the foothills of Alberta and Montana.
Acknowledgements
This paper developed from a presentation at the 68th Annual Plains Anthropological conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, October 69, 2010. The ideas were
further developed through discussions with Jack Brink and Tom Roll, historical
research conducted by D. Joy Oetelaar who compiled the list of place names, and
comments by Marcel Kornfeld, Alice Kehoe, and two anonymous reviewers. Of
course, I alone am responsible for any errors or shortcomings in the final product.
I would also like to acknowledge the help of Eric Damkjar who provided the site
data for Alberta and Lindsay Amundsen-Meyer who helped draft Figure 2.
28
Finally, none of this research would have been possible without the generous support
of SSHRC through MCRI Grant #412-99-1000 and BOREAS Grant
#863-2006-0003.
Note
1 In traditional ecology, disturbances or disruptions
occurrences which often change the structure
to the ecosystem were assumed to be comparatively rare, localized occurrences following which
the system returned to its homeostatic state
and function of the ecosystem to varying degrees.

From this perspective, ecosystems today are
viewed as the outcome of an historical succession
through a succession of adjustments. In the new

ecology, disturbances are assumed to be common
of such disruptions.
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Notes on Contributor
Gerald A. Oetelaar is a professor and current head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Calgary. He earned his PhD in Anthropology from Southern
Illinois University in Carbondale. His current research interests include the evolution
of the Northwestern Plains landscape, human perception of this landscape, and Indigenous archaeology. His attempt to understand the Blackfoot perception of the
Plains landscape has opened his eyes to the epistemology our own unique perspective on the grasslands and its species.
Correspondence to: Gerald Anthony Oetelaar, University of Calgary, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada. Email: oetelaar@ucalgary.ca

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Plains Anthropologist

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Date: 25 August 2016, At: 02:45

plains anthropologist, Vol. 59 No. 229, February, 2014, 937

Better homes and pastures: Human

Ecological approaches in the study of hunter-gatherer societies often assume the

Plains Anthropological Society 2014

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

and archaeological data into comprehensive descriptions and interpretations of the

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

Human agency and the kill complex

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

important component in the cosmic system of sharing (Brightman 2002; Jordan

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

occurrences which often change the structure

and function of the ecosystem to varying degrees.

through a succession of adjustments. In the new

Berkes, Fikret, Johan Colding, and Carl Folke

Blackfoot Gallery Committee (editors)

Unwin Hyman, London.

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

Burpee, Lawrence J. (editor)

Archaeological Society, Billings.

Davidson-Hunt, Iain, and Fikret Berkes

Davis, Leslie B., and Michael C. Wilson (editors)

Archaeological Implications of Variability in the Economic Anatomy of Bison bison. Unpublished

Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution. Government Printing Office, Washington,

Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

Glover, Richard (editor)

Johnston, Alex, and M. D. MacDonald

The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunter-Gatherer Lifeways. Smithsonian Institution Press,

Lamb, William K. (editor)

Lewis, Henry T., and T. A. Ferguson

Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopes in Archaeological Bison Remains as Indicators of Paleoenvironmental

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

Malainey, Mary E., and Barbara L. Sherriff

Symposium on Buffalo Jumps. Montana Archaeological Society Memoir No. 1, Montana

Moss, Ezra H., and J. A. Campbell

Nelson, J. Gordon, and R. E. England

MinnisW. J. Elisens, pp. 133179. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

DavisBrian O. K. Reeves, pp. 168192. Unwin Hyman, London.

and Michael C. Wilson, pp. 2339. Memoir 14, Plains Anthropologist.

BETTER HOMES AND PASTURES

Vale, Thomas R. (editor)

Williams, Nancy M., and Edward S. Hunn (editors)

Winterhalder, Bruce, and Eric A. Smith

Awakening Internalist Archaeology in the Aboriginal World. Unpublished PhD dissertation,

(KAP). Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.

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