Everything about Blackfeet totally explained
The
Piegan Blackfeet (
Aamsskáápipikani (Southern
Pikáni/Piegan) or simply as
Pikáni in
Blackfoot) are a tribe of
Native Americans based in
Montana. Many members of the tribe currently live as part of the
Blackfeet Nation in northwestern
Montana, with population centered in
Browning.
The Blackfeet are closely related to three
First Nations in the
Canadian province of
Alberta. These First Nations are the
Kainai Nation (formerly the Blood), the
Northern Peigan and the
Siksika Nation. These First Nations and the Blackfeet are sometimes collectively referred to as the Blackfoot or the Blackfoot Confederacy. Ethnographic literature most commonly uses
Blackfoot people, and most Blackfoot people use the singular Blackfoot, though the US and tribal governments officially use
Blackfeet as in
Blackfeet Indian Reservation and Blackfeet Nation as seen on official tribe website. The term
Siksika, derived from
Siksikaikwan - "a Blackfoot person" - may also be used in self-identification, as may, in English, "I am Blackfoot" or "I am a member of the Blackfeet tribe." (Nettl, 1989)
The relations of the
Blackfoot language to others in the
Algonquian language family indicate that the Blackfoot lived in an area west of the
Great Lakes. Though they practiced some
agriculture, they were partly nomadic. They moved westward partially because of the introduction of
horses and
guns and became a part of the
Plains Indians culture in the early 1800s. However, there's evidence that they were near the rocky mountain front for thousands of years before European contact. The blackfoot creation story takes place directly bellow Glacier National Park in what is referred as 'Badger-Two Medicine'. The introduction of the horse is placed at about 1730. In 1900, there were an estimated 20,000 Blackfoot, while today there are approximately 25,000. The population was at times dramatically lower when the Blackfeet people suffered instances of
disease,
starvation, and
war, such as the starvation year of 1882 when the last buffalo hunt failed or the smallpox epidemic of 1837 which killed 6,000. They had held large portions of Alberta and Montana, though today the Blackfeet Reservation is the size of
Delaware, and the three Blackfoot
reserves in Alberta have a much smaller area. (Nettl, 1989)
The Blackfeet hold belief "in a sacred force that permeates all things, represented symbolically by the sun whose light sustains all things".
Piegan (Pikuni, referring to people having badly dressed robes). One of the 3 tribes of the Siksika or Blackfoot confederacy. Its divisions, as given by Grinnell, are : Ahahpitape, Ahkaiyikokakiniks, Kiyis, Sikutsipmaiks, Sikopoksimaiks, Tsiniksistsoyiks, Kutaiimiks, Ipoksimaiks, Silkokitsimiks, Nitawyiks, Apikaiviks, Miahwahpitsiks, Nitakoskitsipupiks, Nitikskiks, Inuksiks, Miawkinaiyiks, Esksinaitupiks, Inuksikahkopwaiks, Kahmitaiks, Kutaisotsiman, Nitotsiksisstaniks, Motwainaiks, Mokumiks, and Motahtosiks. Hayden gives also Susksoyiks.
In 1858 the Piegan in the United States were estimated to number 3,700. Hayden 3 years later estimated the population at 2,520. In 1906 there were 2,072 under the Blackfeet agency in Montana, and 493 under the Piegan agency in Alberta, Canada.
The Blackfoot language is also
agglutinative. The Blackfoot don't have well documented male
Two-Spirits, but they do have "manly-hearted women" (Lewis, 1941) who act in much of the social roles of men, including willingness to sing alone, usually considered "immodest", and using a men's singing style. (Nettl, 1989, p.84, 125).
Further Information
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