Blackfoot Indian Tribe, History, Culture

The Blackfoot Nation is made up of four distinct Blackfoot tribes with a similar historical and cultural background, but different leadership. There is the Siksika (meaning Blackfoot), the Akainawa (sometimes called Kainai or Bloods), the Pikanii, and the Blackfeet Nation.

The first three nations of the Blackfoot Nation are located in Alberta, Canada; the fourth is in Montana. "Blackfeet," may be the official name of the tribe, however, it is in actuality an inaccurate name given to them by the white inhabitants of the area. In the Blackfoot language the word is not plural, which is why some Blackfoot people avoid using the name.

The Blackfoot were nomadic plains hunters. Traditionally their enemies were the Shoshone and Nez Perce.

A powerful buffalo-hunting group from the northern plains, the initial arrival of the Europeans was acceptable because European horses soon became helpful to the Blackfoot tribes. Unfortunately, smallpox epidemics wiped out much of the Blackfoot population in the mid-1800's.

In 1870 American army forces accidentally ran into Heavy Runner's peaceful Piegan band and killed 200 of them. Many of those who perished were women and children. They had been looking for Mountain Chief's band of hostile Blackfoot Indians. Mountain Chief and his people managed to escape into Canada.

By 1900, more calamity struck the Blackfoot. White settlers wiped out the buffalo herds. As a result, hundreds of Blackfoot Indians starved to death and the ensuing switch to a sedentary life left these mighty people dependent on government rations.

All the same, the Blackfoot have not lost their culture, and their language is one of the few indigenous languages left in Canada and the United States. It should continue to exist amongst the Blackfoot into future years as the importance of cultural diversity is understood and preserved.

Siksika is the Algonquian language spoken by 8000 people in southern Alberta and northern Montana. The population of the Blackfoot Indians today equals about 14,000.