September 04, 2009 - September 09, 2009

Contests based on mammoth hunting using atlatl, primitive bow, knife, and tomahawks. Early September.

The 20th Annual Montana Atlatl Mammoth Hunt is held at First Peoples Buffalo Jump, formerly Ulm Pishkun State Park. Experts and novices from around the country, and even the world, come try their hand at throwing the atlatl, an 8000 year-old hunting weapon, the primitive bow, tomahawk and knife.

You can compete in one category, two, or all three. Targets for bow and atlatl are set up along one section of the trail and participants are required to walk the trail, so bring hiking boots or comfortable shoes. A learning station will be setup for bow, tomahawk and atlatl for those unfamiliar with either.

In the side yard a dozen men and women are warming up for the event. The "mammoth" is no flesh-and-blood pachyderm, of course, but a silhouette painted on a slab of foam plastic salvaged in the renovation of the local V.A. hospital.

In lieu of skins, the "hunters" come in a variety of shorts, jeans, T-shirts, and ball caps. They line up shoulder-to-shoulder about 35 yards from the target, hurling what look like long arrows with the aid of a throwing stick, or Atlatl, a weapon that until a decade ago had not been seen in these parts for two millennia.

"Atlatl" (pronounced either AT-lat-ul or AT-ul-LA-tul, take your pick) is an Aztec name for the throwing stick. It appeared on the Eurasian continent 30,000 years ago and arrived in the Americas perhaps 12,000 years ago, when the ancestors of the modern Indians crossed the then-existing land bridge between Siberia and Alaska.

These Paleo-Indians - known as the Clovis people, for the exquisite projectile points they left at a site near Clovis, New Mexico - gradually moved south as they followed the herds of Mammoths, Mastodons, and Long-Horned Bison. They killed these animals with the Atlatl and its projectile, which despite its similarity to an arrow is called a "Dart" (alas, a name more suggestive of a smoke-filled bar than a glacial landscape).

Although the Atlatl and Dart were eventually replaced by the Bow and Arrow, they weren't entirely abandoned. Columbus found Carib Indians using them, and in 1519, when Hernan Cortez began his conquest of Mexico, Aztec warriors skewered numerous conquistadors with this ancient but formidable weapon, which easily pierced Spanish armor.

Outdoorsman Jim Merritt shares the history of this event at: http://www.atlatl.com/article2.html

Here is a press release issued September 2, 2008 by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks:

http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getitem.aspx?id=35212

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Region 4, Great Falls

September 2, 2008

ANNUAL ATLATL HUNT SET AT BUFFALO JUMP

FIRST NATIONS EDUCATION SERIES

Contact: Bruce Auchly (406) 454-5840

Annual Atlatl Hunt Set at Buffalo Jump

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, formerly known as Ulm Pishkun State Park, will host the 20th Annual Montana Mammoth Hunt Atlatl Competition, September 5-7, 2008.
The Montana Mammoth Hunt Atlatl Competition is a friendly event with categories for youth, adult males and adult females. The atlatl is a throwing stick that increases the leverage of the human arm.

If you’ve never thrown an atlatl spear, you can spend time at the learning station, receive instruction and take part in the competition.

The 20h Annual Montana Mammoth Hunt Atlatl Competition is free to residents; nonresidents must pay a park admission fee. No reservations are required. Sept. 5 is a set up day, but park staff and volunteers will be on hand, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., to answer questions. Competition takes place on 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sept.6, and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sept. 7.

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park is located 13.5 miles southwest of Great Falls, MT. Take I-15 from either Great Falls or Helena to the Ulm exit (exit 1 270). At the exit, turn north on the Ulm-Vaughn Road and follow it for 3.5 miles to the park entrance.

For additional information contact Robert Thomson at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park at (406) 866-2217.

First Nations Education Series

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park, formerly known as Ulm Pishkun State Park, will host the annual First Nations Education Series of programs. The series runs weekends through September and features programs on various aspects of Native American culture and history.

• Sept. 6 – Eastern Tribes in the West: Iroquois, Delaware and other Tribes in the American West During the 19th Century presented by park naturalist Robert Thomson;

• Sept. 7 – Spiritual Aspects of the Buffalo Jump presented by Don Fish, Blackfeet tribal member;

• Sept. 13 – The Story of the Bitterroot presented by Filmmaker and Producer Steve Slocomb;

• Sept. 14 – A Meeting By The River: The First Crow Agency, 1869-1875 presented by Western Heritage Center Community Historian Kevin Kooistra-Manning;

• Sept. 20 – Marriage and Families In the North American Fur Trade presented by park naturalist Robert Thomson;

• Sept. 21 – Myths and Misconceptions of Native American Ceremonies presented by Blackfeet tribal member Don Fish.

All programs will be presented at 2:00 PM in the classroom or storytelling circle. The presentations are free to the public and no reservations are required.

For additional information: please contact Robert Thomson at First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park at (406) 866-2217.

Town Celebration or Festival

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park is located 13.5 miles southwest of Great Falls, MT. Take I-15 from either Great Falls or Helena to the Ulm exit (exit 270). At the bottom of the exit turn north on the Ulm-Vaughn Road and follow it for 3.5 miles to the park entrance.