Part I: Introduction
Throughout the eighteenth and mid-nineteenth century, Blackfoot Indians were considered the military lords of the northern high plains. They spoke Algonquin. During this time era, Blackfoot lands stretched from northern-central Montana to southern Alberta, Canada. The Blackfoot was a confederation of three tribal nations: Pikuni (North & South Piegan), Kainah (Blood), and Siksika (Blackfoot). This was a tribal nation that was rich in guns and horses. For a long period of time, they were able to keep settlers off their lands. When they were finally discovered, issues arose. They were able to push against surrounding tribes, protecting their lands and peoples. The Sioux were to their east, the Nez Perce and Flatheads were to their west, the Crow were to their south and the Cree were to their north. …show more content…
What makes this significant, especially for this time era, was that the Blackfoot Nation gave their women a great ordeal of respect. When early anthropologists observed these Indian tribes, claiming that women were the slaves of the men, were claims made from lack of evidence. In European culture, in this time era, the women were strongly domesticated. They did all the domestic work, while men worked, owned property, fought in battle, etc. In their case, there was very much superiority amongst men and women. The men held all the power. You can almost say that women were treated like objects. They were domesticated and bared children. This was not the case for Blackfoot Indians. Blackfoot culture was built around an interdependence between the men and women. Both men and women had an understanding that they both needed to depend on one another, if they wanted to survive and succeed as a Nation. Blackfoot women were not oppressed. European women