Blackfoot

According to legend, the black-footed led the migration of the western Algonquins from the valley of the Red River to the foot of the Rocky Mountains . At the end of the 18th century, they reached the South Saskatchewan River , in the 19th century they wandered from the North Saskatchewan River to the headwaters of Missouri .

In the XVIII — XIX centuries. they constituted a confederation , which consisted of three kindred tribes: Siksiks - “black-footed”; kayna - “many leaders”, also known as bloods (from the English blood “ blood”); Pikani , Piegans - "roughly dressed skins." Together, all three tribes called themselves Saoki-tapi-ksi - " People of the Plains."

Friendly and allied tribes with them were the Sarsi and the Guerntras .

Currently, the Indians of this tribe live on Blackfield Reservation in the United States, Montana , and five reservations in Canada, in the province of Alberta .

Blackfoots belong to the Indians of the Great Plains . Their main occupation is equestrian hunting for bison , to which they moved, like other tribes, after the appearance of horses in America. They were also engaged in hunting, fishing , and farming , and tobacco was grown .

The family is large, patrilocal. The kinship account is bilinear. Polygynia , levirate , is preserved. At the head of the tribe is the leader , but in the 19th century, the hierarchical organization of military societies ( kunukhashi ) played a large role.

Among blackfoots, cults of patron spirits, “sacred bundles”, and the demiurge Napi (“Old Man”) are common. The main ritual is the annual Dance of the Sun.

The indigenous black-footed population is estimated at 40 thousand people. Now their number, having experienced a reduction to 4,546 in 1909, is again gradually approaching this figure, having exceeded 36,500. This figure is the summation of the population of the three black-footed communities in Canada - Blood , Siksika Nation and Piikani Nation - and officially registered members of the Blackfield Reservation community in the United States, numbering 15,873 people in 2005. The data of the last three censuses in the United States give much higher numbers for blackfoots: 21.964 people in 1980, 37992 people in 1990 and 27104-85750 people in 2000. The 1970 United States Census registered only 9,921 representatives of the Blackfoot tribe, while the number of officially registered members of their reservation community a year earlier was 10,467.

• The Crow's Foot is the leader of the Blackfoot.
• Robin Big Snake - Professional Hockey Player
• Benny Urkides is an American kickboxing champion , professional, movie stunt director and film actor .
• Steve Reavis is an American actor.

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• James W. Schulz “The Lone Bison Mistake”
• James W. Schulz "The Eagle Catcher"
• James W. Schulz "With the Indians in the Rockies"
• James W. Schulz “Sinope, Native American Boy”
• James W. Schulz “My Life Among the Indians”

• Blackfoot nation
• Blackfoot confederacy
• Blackfoot Language and the Blackfoot Indian Tribe