Blackfoot Tribe Research Paper

Savages, Injuns, and Redskins are all names that have destroyed the honorable opportunity to be called an Indian. The Algonquian people, people that belong to the North American Indian family, in the Blackfoot (Blackfeet) tribe lived in present day Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan, and Canada. Even though in the early years they farmed, they are known for hunting buffalo mostly (Ditchfield 5). There are four closely related tribes that come together to form the whole Blackfoot tribe. There is the Northern Blackfoot (Siksika), The Bloods (Kainai), The Poorly dressed or Piegan (Pikuni), and the Blackfoot (8). The Blackfoot was a widespread tribe that dominated the Great Plains. The regions ranged (north to south) from Alberta, Canada to parts

of Montana and from North Dakota to west of the Rocky Mountains (10). The Blackfoot Indians are an intriguing group thanks to their history and culture that they have made.
In the early years of the Blackfoot tribe, the population never hit past 8,000, but due to the ruthlessness the tribe showed, it was regarded as the most powerful tribe at the time in the Great Plains region. In the year 1806 the United States (US) began to have bad relations with the Blackfeet people. This hostile relationship was made when someone from the Lewis and Clark expedition killed a Peigan, one of the Blackfoot people. The US and the Blackfoot people held hostile relations for sixty years until the first peace treaty was signed in 1855. Although there was a peace treaty in order, many miners trespassed and were killed by the Blackfoot people. The hostile attacks stopped after The Massacre of Marias of January 1870 when federal troops killed 170 Piegans from the tribe. Although the Blackfoot people were on reservations in Canada and America, the American reservationist had it worse. Most of them starved because of crop failure, the buffalo disappearing, and insufficient federal aid (Waltmann).
Buffalo were everywhere in the Great Plains region in the early life of the Blackfoot tribe.

Buffalo were the main food that the Blackfoot depended on, but they also had mountain sheep, deer, and elk. There were times that the Blackfoot people had so much meat that the women would make a type of jerky because it was full of protien and easy to carry for the men (Ditchfield 19). The Blackfoot people traveled around chasing after the buffalo, so they were known as nomadic. The Blackfoot people lived in tepees, or buffalo skin over long poles to form a shelter, because they were easy to put up and easy to take down when traveling (17). The Blackfoot tribe was so dependent on animals that when the Starvation Winter happened in 1883 many of the tribe members died. The Starvation Winter was the time when all the buffalo disappeared. The Blackfoot people did not eat fish or travel by water because of spiritual beliefs, so they depended strictly on land food (“Blackfoot”). Buffalo played a huge role in the Blackfoot way of

life.
The Blackfoot people had a strong faith to the God they called Apistotokiwa or the Maker (“Blackfoot”). They believed that if they would sacrifice items to the God then he would give them happiness and health (Ditchfield 26). Every year there is a ritual called the Sun Dance that the Blackfoot perform. The Sun Dance is the most important out of all the others (Ditchfield 26). In this one ritual they would before smaller rituals like smoking from the special pipe if they were sick or injured(28). They gave offerings and prayed. The warriors did strength and endurance tests to see who was the mightiest (29). The spiritual take in the Blackfoot culture was interesting and still is.
The Blackfoot people were, and still are, very skilled craftsmen. The clothing that they would have wore would have been made by some sort of animal skin, either deer elk, or antelope (22). The headdresses or war bonnet were different than every other tribe. The feathers on them stood straight up like a crown (23). When compared to others that were laid back the difference was easily seen. In Figure 1 the headdress of a Blackfoot tribesman is shown.

Figure 1. Headdress . 2006. Brooklyn Museum , Brooklyn , NY. Brooklyn Museum
Web. 13 Jan. 2016.
During the winter they wore buffalo skin robes that were heavy, but warm (24).

The Blackfoot people not only made clothing but made tools, weapons, and riding equipment also (25).
Today the Blackfoot people are trying to keep the culture alive. Most of the 37, 992 Blackfeet are on a reservation in Alberta (Waltmann). The Northern Blackfoot, Bloods, and Piegans settled there and the Siksika settled in Montana (Ditchfield 37). The Siksika found oil in Montana and have profited off of it ever since (38). They drive the same cars as average Americans and they were the same clothes. The reservation is mainly a tourist attraction now (39) and the Blackfoot, however do not give up on preserving their history (40).
The history and culture of the Blackfoot people has beaten the test of time making it an intriguing tribe. In the early years they were mighty and powerful, but as time went on the power they had established went away. The Blackfoot people chased buffalo many years depending in them to survive the terrain they lived in. In the spiritual world, the Blackfoot people were deep into their religion. The Blackfoot people were extremely good craftsman with making clothes, tools, weapons, and riding equipment. The Blackfoot people are still around today and are striving to keep the history of their nation alive. The Blackfoot people have the honor of being called Native Americans and not a disgraceful

one.