Wahkpa Chu'gn Christmas Ornaments still available

The Havre/Hill County Preservation Commission is still selling its 2021 Christmas ornaments, this year honoring the Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump.

Every year, the commission honors a historic building or location in the area, having a Christmas ornament designed to commemorate it and its historic and cultural importance to the area.

Wahkpa Chu'gn is a prehistoric bison kill site and camp used by Native American people for more than 2,000 years. Peoples of the Besant, Avonlea, and Old Women's/Saddle Butte archaeological complexes are represented in the site area.

The ornament's design is based on a sketch by Alberta-based Artist Jim Marshall, who made the jump's mural displayed off U.S. Highway 2 West by Havre Inn and Suites.

This year's selection of the buffalo jump also doubled as a celebration of John Brumley, the man credited with finding the archaeological site, who died in 2020.

In 1961, while still a youth, Brumley became intrigued by the newly formed Milk River Wahkpa Chu'gn Archaeological Society, and decided to prove himself to the group by finding the bison kill site.

He found artifacts at the site during a dual hunt - for rabbits and for the site - and brought them to the society.

He went on to study archaeology and pursued that endeavor in Canada before returning to Havre 20 years ago and taking over the site as curator of archaeology for the H. Earl Clack Museum, which oversees Wahkpa Chu'gn. His wife, Anna Brumley, managed the Buffalo Jump. The couple retired in 2017 and moved to Arizona.

The commission's Historic Preservation Officer Becki Miller said her organization had been looking to honor the jump for a long time, and she's glad they were able to use it as an opportunity to celebrate the Brumleys and everyone who helped make the jump what it is.

"It's a nice memorial to John Brumley," she said.

The commission has produced 100 of the Wahkpa Chu'gn ornaments, and Miller said they have sold quite a few, but they have plenty left.

All proceeds from these sales go toward the commission's historic preservation efforts in the area.

The ornaments are on sale at the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce and the H. Earl Clack Memorial Museum for $20, along with ornaments from past years, which are only available at the Chamber.

Available ornaments include the Hill County Court House, the Episcopal Church, Donaldson Hall at MSU-N, Fort Assinniboine/Northern Ag Research Center, Kiwanis Chapel, Clack Elevators, Burnham Schoolhouse, and the Carnegie Public Library.

This is the 11th year that the historic preservation commission has offered ornaments. Last year, St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church was featured and was the most popular to date, selling 250 ornaments.

Miller said they sold out of last year's ornament three times, and unfortunately, that one is no longer available.