Across Canada and the United States there are many First Nations languages which are a part of the Algonquian language family, all of which with varying states of health. Although these languages share many characteristics of the Algonquian language family, the cultures, systems of beliefs, and geographic location of their respective Nations differentiate them. In being shaped by the landscape, cultures, and spirituality of the First Nations, the language brings the speakers closer to their land and traditions while reaffirming their identity as First Peoples. Using the Blackfoot Nation to further explore this concept, this paper will show that while language threads together First Nations culture, spirituality, traditions and land, as well as their identity, each of these essential components also maintain and revitalize the language. Though referred to most commonly as the Blackfeet or Blackfoot, many refer to themselves as the Nitsitapiksi (Ni-tsi-ta-pi-ksi), the “Real People,” a term used by the Blackfoot to also refer to all First Peoples of the Americas (The Blackfoot Gallery Committee, 2013, 11). The term Niitsipoiyksi is used to refer to those who are “the speakers of the Real language,” that being Blackfoot, but it may also mean those who speak their Aboriginal language (The Blackfoot Gallery Committee, 2013, 11). The Blackfoot Peoples are made up of three distinct Nations the Kainai, the Piikuni and Siksika. Though this is how some Blackfoot literature refers to the Nations, it is still common to hear these Nations referred to as the Blood Nation for the Kainai, Peigan (Canada) or Blackfeet (United States) for the Piikuni, and Blackfoot or Northern Blackfoot for the Siksika (The Blackfoot Gallery C... ... middle of paper ... ...placed in the Blackfoot that led to a social breakdown within the communities, such as alcoholism, depression, and violence, which further distanced many Blackfoot from their culture and language (Bastien, 2004). As much of what has been written here has been focused on the Blackfoot culture and the ways it has been impacted by settlers, language will now be discussed more in-depth to further illustrate how it has also been impacted. Works Cited Bastien, B. (2011). Blackfoot ways of knowing: The worldview of the siksikaitsitapi. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press. Blackfoot Gallery Committee, The (2013). The story of the blackfoot people: Nitsitapiisinni. (2nd ed.). Ontario: Firefly Books. Tovias, B. (2011). Colonialism on the prairies: Blackfoot settlement an cultural transformation, 1870 - 1920. Portland, Oregon: Sussex Academic Press.
Whitehead’s main argument is that the Mi’kmaq have historically been homogenized as “Indians” or “Savages” and not as individual Nations with individual stories and histories. Whitehead further argues that what does exist is typically dominated by the colonial perspective. In her own words Whitehead’s stated goal of this text is to “counterbalance such works, by restoring to our collective memory – whether we are Micmac or not – a sense of the individual and specific.”
Axtell, James. “Native Reactions to the Invasion of North America.” Beyond 1492: Encounters in Colonial North America. New York: Oxford UP, 1992. 97-121. Print.
The Niitsitapi (also called Blackfoot Indians), reside in the Great Plains of Montana as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan located in Canada. Only one of the Niitsitapi tribes are named Siksika, also known as Blackfoot.
Black Elk Speaks had a huge impact on American literature. It is story of Nicholas Black Elk and the Oglala Lakota, narrated by Neihardt. Black Elk and his people had many stories to share about their Indian culture, history and current events, such as being forced onto reservations. When the author met with Black Elk on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1930, Black Elk wanted Neihardt to write and share his experiences. However, “There was some criticism of Neihardt for changes he made when writing Black Elk Speaks” (Silvio).
Banks, D., Erodes, R. (2004). Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement. Ojibwa Warrior. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://www.oupress.com/bookdetail.asp?isbn=0-8061-3580-8
The Cree people have a rich and diverse history. Through methods of written and oral teachings, a greater understanding of the Cree people and their history has become apparent. In the following, I will highlight portions of Cree history to establish an understanding of such a rich culture. As a guide, I will use ideas highlighted in Jim Kanepetew’s (n.d) teachings of “The Ten Treaty Sticks”. Underlying concepts from “The Ten Treaty Sticks” have implications on both past and current practices of the Cree people. Since a large portion of the final exam is a chronological list of happenings, I will examine and extend the teachings of “The Ten Treaty Sticks” and how these align with teachings throughout the course. Using “The Ten Treaty Sticks” as a guide, I
The settlement of the white people had taken its toll on the Blackfoot's. The Napikwans began to move in on the Indians, taking over their hunting ranges, and forcing them from the land in which they had lived for years. "At the time the Pikunis gave the Napikwans some land in return for promises that we would be left alone to hunt on our ranges" (174). The Indians did so as a reassurance that they were safe living with the white people. They thought that would put an end to the white mans greed. As more agreements were made between the Napikwans and the Lone Eaters, the Indians were promised goods to make up for the loss of ranges, as well as some of the white mans money. "These things never came to pass. And so we have every reason to hate the Napikwans" (174).
They started moving west in 1600’s when the Europeans showed up. They eventually were on The Cree’s land. The Cree are one of Blackfoot's enemies. They moved so far west that they moved towards the Rockies.
While noting that the Nanticoke possessed “the physiognomy, color, and hair ranging from the European, the mulatto, and the Indian…” he nevertheless concluded that, “even the most negroid of these people is quite different from that of the common Southern Negro type. [The Nanticoke] are much more refined in appearance, with thinned lips and narrower noses.” Speck traced these features to probable Moorish ancestors as well as to a small amount of African admixture that likely ceased by the mid-eighteenth century. Perhaps Speck’s insistence that the Nanticoke had not experienced recent black admixture accounts for why the photos accompanying his study included Nanticoke with lighter skin tones who he described as exhibiting the Nanticoke “type.” Besides their physical resemblance to Indians, Speck noted few surviving cultural traits amongst the group, although he reported that their Indian forbearers likely inspired the Nanticoke’s hunting practices. Like the Jackson Whites, none of the Nanticoke spoke a native language. Although some informants believed that the language had been spoken in the recent past, the last speakers were believed to have died sometime during the late nineteenth century. Despite the lacking many indigenous
The Contemporary Issues in Native American Culture provides a lot of varied topics and interests. In this paper, the main issue will be the topic of tribal language preservation. How tribes are able to raise money to enhance language efforts, how tribes are working to preserve the language, and how tribes are using language to maintain cultural awareness and identity will be discussed.
This provides powerful insight into the role Bigfoot like creatures played in Native American cultures. Some tribes were not afraid of the creatures, considering them kind and helpful, while peacefully coexisting with them. Other tribes found them to be more violent and dangerous creatures. The fact that these tribes called the animals Stick Indians or Brush Indians seems to suggest that the creatures were simply other tribes they did not get along with opposed to a village of mythical creatures. Some examples of Bigfoot like creatures in Native American tribes include the Chiye – Tanka, the Lofa, the Maxemista, and the popular Sasquatch. The Chiye – Tanka was the Bigfoot like creature of the Sioux Indians (“Native American,” n.d.). This animal
I’m going to compare Inuit people and the Blackfoot people, Completed. So after talking about the four differences and the two similarities I hope you learned something about my certain topic. Remember, It doesn’t have to be the same to be cool, In the end It doesn’t
"Choctaw" UXL Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes-Volume 1. Sharon Malinowski, Anna Sheets, Linda Schmitroth. Detroit:1994 edition
Before the research project is continued there are some things that need to be covered so that you - the reader - do not get confused about certain vocabulary used throughout the paper. “Muskogee, or Creek, is a Muskogean language of the American Southeast. The language has been in decline, but some young people are working to keep their ancestral language alive (1).”
Throughout the 150 year history of Bigfoot many concerns have raised, the most in number have been from Native Americans. The Karok Indians tell of an “upslope person” who lurks far up in the mountains (Gaffron, 22-24). Some medicine men have told stories of “snow-walkers” that haunt the Forrest depths (Short). The creatures North American habitat covers over 125,000 square miles of forest, contained in the states of Oregon, Washington, and California, constituting a large number of Native American tribes to encounter and frighten (Gaffron, 22). This phenomenon is not just a Native American one told by medicine men, and tribe leaders, Bigfoot plays an enormous role in the ancient folklore of such civilizations as, the Russians, Greeks, and Anglo-Saxons (Brunvand). These civilizations have been around for hundreds of years, and have been telling stories of Bigfoot long before any one; they hold the true key to Bigfoot’s history.