The Blackfoot Confederacy controlled a vast portion of the Pacific Northwest extending to the Rockies. With horses and guns they hunted the vast herds of buffalo.
Land Holdings
The Blackfoot Confederacy, up until about midway through the 1800s, controlled a vast area in the northeastern Plains. This area reached from the North Saskatchewan River in present-day Alberta, extending all the way to the upper Missouri River in Montana. The Blackfoot holdings were flanked on the western side by the Rocky Mountains.
The Confederacy
The Blackfoot Confederacy included the Blackfoot band, the Blood band, the Piegan band, as well as the Gros Ventres and Sarcees. The Blackfoot, Blood, and Piegan were all related and are often all referred to as Blackfoot collectively. In addition, these three tribes were Algonquian-speaking people but separated by location.
The true Blackfoot, or Siksika, dwelled to the farthest north. The Bloods, or Kainah, were so name because they painted their bodies with red clay. The Piegans, or Pikuni, lived to the south. Their name meant, "poorly dressed."
The Gros Ventres' area was to the northwest of the three Blackfoot bands. The Sarcees lived to the southeast of the Gros Ventres.
Origin and Culture
It is assumed that the Blackfeet migrated to their area from further to the northeast, after separating from other Algonquian groups.
The Blackfeet lived a nomadic life, hunting and utilizing the buffalo as their primary food. However, they did hunt other game, such as the deer, elk, and mountain sheep. They were also gatherers of wild plants, such as berries and chokecherries.
Their dwellings consisted of hide tepees. They did little farming but did grow one crop, tobacco. Their wandering lifestyle was enhanced about 1740 when the tribe began to obtain horses and guns. These two acquisitions greatly enhanced their prowess as they quickly became accomplished horsemen as well as marksmen.
Craftwork and Adornments
As well as being known as fierce and successful warriors in battle and on the hunt, the Blackfeet were noted for their superior craftwork, utilizing such in their tepees, riding equipment, clothes, tools, and weapons.
Another feature the Blackfeet were noted for, and identified by, was their unique style of warbonnets. Rather than such bonnets trailing long trains of feathers, as many other Native American tribes had adopted, the feathers of the Blackfoot warbonnet stood straight up.
Blackfoot Confederacy: Their Origin, Societies, and Decline continues with Raiders of Mountains and Plains: Blackfoot Encounters with Bozeman, Lewis, and Clark.
