All about the ancient tribes
The three groups traditionally lived in what is now Alberta, Canada, and the U.S. state of Montana, and there they remain, with one reservation in Montana and three reserves (as they are called in Canada), one for each band, within Alberta.
Originally the Blackfeet lived in the Saskatchewan River Valley of Saskatchewan, Canada, and the upper plains of the United States. By 1850 the tribe had moved to the Rocky Mountains and Missouri River areas.
Overview. The Blackfoot Confederacy is the collective name of three First Nations in Alberta and one Native American tribe in Montana. It is also speculated that “Blackfoot Cherokee” refers to a band of Cherokee that had black ancestry, most likely from the adoption of escaped slaves into their society.
The Blackfeet Indians are original residents of the northern Plains, particularly Montana, Idaho, and Alberta, Canada. Most Blackfoot people still live in this region today. Here is a map showing traditional Blackfoot lands and the location of their reservations today. How is the Blackfeet Indian nation organized?
An important Algonquian confederacy of the northern plains, consisting of three subtribes, the Siksika proper or Blackfeet, the Kainah or Bloods, and the Piegan, the whole body being popularly known as Blackfeet. In close alliance with these are the Atsina and the Sarsi.
The Sihásapa or Blackfoot Sioux are a division of the Lakota people, Titonwan, or Teton. Sihásapa is the Lakota word for “Blackfoot”, whereas Siksiká has the same meaning in the Blackfoot language. The Sihásapa lived in the western Dakotas on the Great Plains, and consequently are among the Plains Indians.
Siksikáí’powahsin (commonly referred to as the Blackfoot language) is an Algonquian language spoken by four Blackfoot nations: the Siksiká (Blackfoot), Aapátohsipikani (North Piikani), Aamsskáápipikani (South Piikani) and Kainai (Blood).
(ˈblækˌfʊt ) noun. Word forms: plural -feet or -foot. a member of a group of Native American peoples formerly living in the northwestern Plains.
All major ABO blood alleles are found in most populations worldwide, whereas the majority of Native Americans are nearly exclusively in the O group. O allele molecular characterization could aid in elucidating the possible causes of group O predominance in Native American populations.
The Blackfoot tribe lived in tepees which were the tent-like American Indian homes used by most of the Native Indian tribes of the Great Plains. The tepee was constructed from wooden poles that were covered with animal skins such as buffalo hides. The tepee was designed to be quickly erected and easily dismantled.
Today, three Blackfoot First Nation band governments (the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations) reside in the Canadian province of Alberta, while the Blackfeet Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Southern Piikani in Montana, United States.
www.bia.gov/bia/ois/tgs/genealogy Publishes a downloadable Guide to Tracing Your Indian Ancestry. Has a vast online library, Tracing Native American Family Roots. www.ncai.org/tribal-directory Provides the online tribal directory where contact information for specific tribes can be found.
Blackfoot, also called Blackfeet, North American Indian tribe composed of three closely related bands, the Piegan (officially spelled Peigan in Canada), or Piikuni; the Blood, or Kainah (also spelled Kainai, or Akainiwa); and the Siksika, or Blackfoot proper (often referred to as the Northern Blackfoot).
At one time, they were feared Plains warriors. Historians believe the Blackfeet, forced out of their ancestral grounds in today’s upper Great Lakes region by white advancement, were one of the first Native American tribes to head West.
The main food for the Blackfoot came from the bison. They hunted other animals when necessary such as deer, elk, and rabbits. The women gathered berries when they could. For the winter, they made a mixture called pemmican from dried bison meat, berries, and fat.