The Blackfoot people relied on the Buffalo for sustaining life. Every part of the animal was used to provide food, clothing, shelter, utensils and tools. To assure a victory over the buffalo, hunters devised a complex system of herding, after which the buffalo owere stampeded off a cliff. This system was invented over 8000 years ago and was still in use as late as the 1870's. Head-smashed-in Buffalo Jump, in southern Alberta, is the largest, oldest, and best-preserved buffalo jump in the world.