Denied control over their property,Indians developed a 'passive attitude' toward its uses,says Elouise Cobell. She 's gazing at Montana land that the Blackfeet were able to buy back from a non-Indian owner. It will be managed as a nature conservancy.

Blackfoot / Piegan
Literature

Tribe Home Page

"OKI! NIKSOKWA"

SIKSIKA

"literally means "Black Foot". Siksika is the name for the Blackfoot Nation,
which includes the Piikani (Piegan) and the Kainai (Blood) Tribes".

"Give wisdom and understanding to my leaders.
Protect my warriors and bring them back safe.
Give to the young, love and contentment.
Give health and long life to my old people
so that they may remain with us for a long time.
Make my enemy brave and strong,
so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed.
And give me wisdom so that I may have kindness for all.
And let me live each day, so when day is done,
my prayer will not have been in vain."

Big Lodge Pole, Blackfoot

The Blackfoot Indians of the United States and Canada are divided into three main groups: the Northern Blackfoot or Siksika, the Kainah or Blood, and the Piegan. The three as a whole are also referred to as the Siksika (translated Blackfoot), a term which probably derived from the discoloration of moccasins with ashes. The three groups constitute what are apparently geographical-linguistic groups. All three speak a language which is a part of the Algonquian family. The Piegan and Blood are the most closely related dialects.

Before the Blackfoot were placed on reservations in the latter half of the nineteenth century, they occupied a large territory which stretched from the North Saskatchewan River in Canada to the Missouri River in Montana, and from long. 105 degrees West to the base of the Rocky Mountains. The Piegan were located toward the western part of this territory, in the mountainous country. The Blood were located to the northeast of the Piegan, and the Northern Blackfoot were northeast of the Blood.

The Blackfoot were placed on four reservations. The Blackfeet Agency, the Blood Agency, and the Piegan Agency are all located in Alberta, Canada. The Blackfeet Reservation in Montana is inhabited by Piegans. (References to Northern Piegan indicate the Canadian Piegan, while references to the Southern Piegan indicate the Montana Piegan.) (Blackfoot is the correct name - white man thought it should be 'plural' and changed to Blackfeet)

The Blackfoot are typical of the Plains Indians in many aspects of their culture. They were/are nomadic hunter-gatherers, who live in tipis. They once subsisted mainly on buffalo and large mammals and, in addition, gathered a lot of vegetable foods. Traditions indicate that the buffalo were/are hunted in drives, although hunting patterns changed when horses and guns were introduced. Deer and smaller game were/are caught with snares. Fish, although abundant, were eaten only in times of dire necessity and after the disappearance of the buffalo.

During the summer, the Blackfoot lived in large tribal camps. It was during this season that they conducted Buffalo Hunts in times gone by, and the Sun Dance ceremonies are held in summer. During the winter, they separated into bands of from approximately 10 to 20 lodges. Band membership is quite fluid. There might be several headmen in each band, and one of them is considered the chief. Headmanship is very informal. The qualifications for the office were once "wealth" and success in war, as well as ceremonial experience.

The religious life of the Blackfoot centers upon medicine bundles and their associated rituals. These bundles are individually owned and ultimately originated from an encounter with a supernatural spirit. These encounters take the form of dreams or visions, which are sought in a typical Plains type of vision quest. A young man, usually under the tutelage of an older medicine man, goes out to an isolated place and prays and fasts until he has a vision. Many of these men fail and never have a vision.

Individual bundles acquire great respect. Some of these are headdresses, shirts, shields, knives, and "medicine objects". Painted lodges are considered to be medicine bundles, and there are more than 50 of them among the three main Blackfoot groups. The most important bundles to the group as a whole are the Beaver Bundles, the Medicine Pipe Bundles, and the Sun Dance Bundle.

The Sun Dance among the Blackfoot is generally similar to the ceremony that is performed in other Plains societies. There are some differences, in that a woman plays the leading role among the Blackfoot, and the symbolism and paraphernalia used are derived from beaver bundle ceremonialism. The Blackfoot Sun Dance includes the following: (1) moving the camp on four successive days; (2) on the fifth day, building the medicine lodge, transferring bundles to the medicine woman, and the offering of gifts by children and adults in ill health; (3) on the sixth day, dancing toward the sun, blowing eagle-bone whistles, and self-torture; and (4) on the remaining four days, performing various ceremonies of the men's societies.

Stories

The Broken Promise
Buffalo Rock
Coyote and the Rolling Rock (Blackfoot/Salish)
Deeds and Prophecies of Old Man
Fish Dog Skin
Heavy Collar and the Ghost Woman
How a Piegan Warrior Found the First Horses
How the Blackfoot got the Buffalo Jump (Piskun)
Kip a ta ki (Old Woman)
Origin of the Sweat Lodge
Tracing Five Generations of a Blackfoot Family
Water Spirit's Gift of Horses
Wise Man of Chief Mountain

More Stories

How the Ducks Got Their Fine Feathers
How the Man Fround His Mate
How Medicine-Hat Got Its Name
A Meal for Nata'Yowa
A Pipe From the Seven Stars
Adventures of Bull Turns Round
Adventures of Old Man
An Old Story
Bear-Moccasin, the Great Medicine-Man
Beaver Meat
Beaver Medicine
Black and Yellow Buffalo-Painted Lodges
Blackfoot
Blood-Clot-Boy
Blood-Clot-Boy v2
Buffalo-berry
Camp of the Ghosts
Chief Mountain
Contest Between the Thunder-Bird and the Raven
Coyote and the Rolling Rock
Creation Story
Crow Indian Water-Medicine
Cuts-Wood
Daily Life and Customs
Deeds and Prophecies of Old Man
Dog-Chief
Dreams
Earth Diver
Fed by a Coyote
Fed by a Ghost
Fish Dog Skins
Has-Scabs-All-Over
Heavy Collar and the Ghost Woman
How a Piegan Warrior Found the First Horses
How Ducks Got Their Fine Feathers
How men and women got together
How the Blackfoot got the Buffalo Jump
How the Blackfoot Obtained the Spotted Horses
How the Blackfoot Obtained the Spotted Horses
How the Great Holy Being Honored Beloved Meadow Lark
How The Man Found His Mate
How the Old Man Made People
How The Otter Skin Became Great "Medicine
How The Otter Skin Became Great Medicine
How the Worm Pipe Came to the Blackfoot
Iktomi and the Turtle
Languages Confused on a Mountain
Legend of the Beginning
Little Friend Coyote
Old Man and the Beginning of the World
Old Man and the Roasted Squirrels
Old Man Leads a Migration
Order of Life and Death
Sits By The Door
The Bear Woman
The First Buffalo Stone
The First Marriage
The Making of the Earth
The Origins of the Buffalo Dance
The piqued buffalo wife
Unknown Title
Why the birch-tree wears the slashes in its bark
Why the Chipmunk's Back is Striped
Why The Curlew's Bill is Long and Crooked
Why the Mountain Lion is Long and Lean
Why the Nighthawk's Wings are Beautiful
Blackfoot / Piegan - Origin of the Sweat Lodge

Excellent Blackfoot Photographs

Indigenous Peoples' Literature Return to Indigenous Peoples' Literature

Compiled by: Glenn Welker

Copyright © 1995-2007



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