A friend and I took had an adventurous day discovering Alberta. Our first stop was Head-Smashed in Buffalo Jump. It's a Unesco site, where historically Natives would lure and funnel wild racing buffalo herds off cliffs, a very clever way of hunting. Buffalo were then harvested as food and pelts for the winter.
I haven't been there since a field trip in grade six. Unfortunately both the park and the resource centre was closed today and opening next week. But a nice man, named Conrad Little Leaf waved at us as we were driving away and chatted with us. He introduced himself as an "Indian". He proudly told us that he was 100% Indigenous with no European blood. He talked with us about the history of Buffalo Jump; the demise of Buffalo in the area; European colonization, the giving the way of free land to settlers, which put tears in the eyes of both my travel companion and mine.
But he spoke with no bitterness in his heart and a wiseness that was both palpable and admirable. It wasn't simply forgiveness, but love for people, as all people, were are simply "of the dirt", of no race as he poignantly put it. We were so touched by the generosity of his time and his words. With nothing to give him in return for his time, I asked him if he wanted new portrait photos and he happily agreed. Thanks so much Mr. Little Leaf, I hope you like your new photos, they are in your email inbox!
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