Research Page (Blackfoot Nation)
The Blackfoot Nation (originally named Siksika) is the home to the Blackfeet Tribe. It was established by the Treaty of 1855 who extended it southward along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to Yellowstone River and then northward to the North Saskatchewan River in Canada. In this tribe, there are about 15,560 members living in nation, and another 7,600 living near. Those numbers made it the largest and most dominant Indian tribe in Montana. Also, like the Cheyenne, Gros Ventre and many others, the Blackfoot Nation were members of the Algonquian linguistic group. The Blackfoot Nation got its name by having black colored moccasins, (which is a soft leather slipper/shoe) which were then painted with ashes …show more content…
On the other hand, the men were usually hunters and sometimes even fought war to defend their families. However, both genders took part in storytelling, artwork, music, and traditional medicine. The Blackfoot lived in buffalo-hide houses which were called Tipis. The traditional dresses of women were long deerskin dresses, while the men wore buckskin tunics and breechcloths with leggings. Blackfoot dresses and war shirts were mostly fringed and often decorated with porcupine quills, beads, and elk teeth. The nation usually traveled by river, and they used to build rafts for transportation. At first, there were no horses, so they used dogs to pull their travois (a kind of drag sled) to help them carry their belongings over land. The Blackfoot Tribe mostly just ate buffalo because that was their staple food. Blackfoot men usually hunted the buffalo by driving them off cliffs or stalking them with bow and arrow. In addition to buffalo and its meat, the Blackfeet people also ate ground squirrels, nuts and berries, and steamed camas roots as part of their diet. Blackfoot hunters and warriors didn't have a large variety of weapons. They fired arrows from powerful long bows or …show more content…
They were organized and arranged by friends and family, and sometimes they happened when the woman was still a child. The man had to prove that he was wealthy for the marriage to take place, and for this to happen, he proved his wealth by showing that he was a powerful warrior and a skilled hunter. When he finally proved his worth, gift exchanges were done by both families, and then the marriage could take place. The bride and groom then either moved into their own tipi or moved in with the groom's family. The Blackfeet Tribe usually traveled across the Northern Plains in groups of around 20 to 30 people, which seemed to be most effective for hunting buffalo. But on the other hand, the tribes would always come together in the end for a lot of ceremonies and rituals, for example, the sun dance or medicine lodge ceremony and to trade, which led them to separating again for the winter. Each group of people was led by a Blackfeet Chief. Most historians believe that the nations first horses came from the Shoshone to the south, and then the Blackfoot Nation stole a few. Soon after the Blackfeet got horses, they also got guns by trading beaver pelts and buffalo hides with some of the French