1921] BARRETT, COLLECTING AMONG THE BLACKFOOT INDIANS. 



25 



urally took the fatal plunge. Even had they tried at this juncture to 

 turn back, they would have been unable to do so because of the rush of 

 the animals behind them, which would have forced them tumbling over 

 to their deaths below. 



Should any lucky one escape death or injury at the foot of the 

 precipice he found himself within a pound" or enclosure of poles or ])rush 

 running out from the l)ase of the cliffs. He could then be dispatched 

 at will bv the hunters. 



Fig. 11. 



-Site of the old hutialo dri\e, or piskun, on the north bank of 

 Badger Creek, Blackfoot Reservation, Montana. 



Not only did we trace out the remains of the converging lines of 

 stone piles, but at the base of the cliff we discovered in a recent under 

 cut of the bank near the water's edge, two layers of buffalo bones. 

 One of these layers is shown in figure 12. These were the remains of 

 the tough old bulls' and the scrawny animals which were deemed unfit 

 for food and which were allowed to remain where thev fell. The talus 



''Informants claimed that no corral was required in the winter season if a 

 stream or lake lay ai the foot of the precipice. Any animals which might sur- 

 vive the fall, would flounder on the ice and fall an easy prey to the hunters. 



'The meat of an old bull is said to be jialatable only in the late spring'. It 

 is then fat and lacks the rank flavor of the rutting' season. 



