Blackfoot" and "Blackfeet" redirect here.
Blackfoot
Bear
Bull
Total population
32,000
Regions with significant
populations
Canada
(
Alberta)
United States
(
Montana)
Languages
English, Blackfoot
Religion
Traditional beliefs, Sun Dance, Christianity
Related ethnic
groups
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi (meaning "original
people"[note
1]) is the collective name of three First Nations bands
in Alberta, Canada and one Native American tribe in Montana, USA.
Historically, the member peoples of the Confederacy were nomadic bison hunters, who ranged across large areas of
the northern Great Plains of Western North America,
specifically the semi-arid short-grass prairie ecological region. They later
adopted horses and firearms acquired from European-descended traders and. With these new
tools the Blackfoot expanded their territory at the expense of neighbouring
peoples. Through the use of horses, Blackfoot and other Plains peoples harvested
bison at a much accelerated rate. However it was the systemic commercial bison hunting by European-American hunters that
permanently changed the paradigm of the Great Plains. Periods of starvation and
deprivation for the Blackfoot followed. They were then forced to end their
nomadism and adopt ranching and farming, settling on small pieces of their
former lands. This was the result of treaties with the United States and Canada,
mostly signed in the 1870s, which the Blackfoot signed in exchange for food and
medical aid and help with farming. Since that time the Blackfoot have worked to
maintain their traditional language and culture in the face of past assimilationist policies of the North American
nation-states.
Blackfoot
Bear
Bull
Total population
32,000
Regions with significant
populations
Canada
(
Alberta)
United States
(
Montana)
Languages
English, Blackfoot
Religion
Traditional beliefs, Sun Dance, Christianity
Related ethnic
groups
The Blackfoot Confederacy or Niitsítapi (meaning "original
people"[note
1]) is the collective name of three First Nations bands
in Alberta, Canada and one Native American tribe in Montana, USA.
Historically, the member peoples of the Confederacy were nomadic bison hunters, who ranged across large areas of
the northern Great Plains of Western North America,
specifically the semi-arid short-grass prairie ecological region. They later
adopted horses and firearms acquired from European-descended traders and. With these new
tools the Blackfoot expanded their territory at the expense of neighbouring
peoples. Through the use of horses, Blackfoot and other Plains peoples harvested
bison at a much accelerated rate. However it was the systemic commercial bison hunting by European-American hunters that
permanently changed the paradigm of the Great Plains. Periods of starvation and
deprivation for the Blackfoot followed. They were then forced to end their
nomadism and adopt ranching and farming, settling on small pieces of their
former lands. This was the result of treaties with the United States and Canada,
mostly signed in the 1870s, which the Blackfoot signed in exchange for food and
medical aid and help with farming. Since that time the Blackfoot have worked to
maintain their traditional language and culture in the face of past assimilationist policies of the North American
nation-states.