BlackFoot Indians

By: Stella Jones, Levi Buckner, Kathryn Smith, and Riley O'Neill

The Blackfoot Tribe

This is the blackfoot's land, the Rocky Mountains

CULTURE

The Blackfoot Indians lived in northern spots of the United States including Idaho, and Montana, as well as Alberta, Canada. They spoke Algic.

Blackfoot women wore dresses made out of deer skin. Everyone in the Blackfoot tribe wore shoes, these shoes were called moccasins. Their war shirts were deer skin like the women’s dress’ but these were decorated with elk teeth, porcupine quills, and beads. Most of the women's jobs were to keep care of the house. The men went to war and hunted. The kids mostly played with each other, went to school, and helped around the house with their mother.

Click on the dots to see Blackfoot Tribe Artifacts!

HISTORY

After the Blackfoot domesticated the horse in the late 18th century, they became the most powerful Indian tribe on the Plains. They were known as the “Lord of the Plains”. They established fur trading with the Hudson Bay Company. The Blackfoot had many wars with neighboring tribes but later sought an anti-war stance with the US Government.

In 1754 the Blackfoot warriors met Anthony Henday of the Hudson Bay Company in what is now Alberta and they established fur trade dealings. Meriwether Lewis and 3 of his men encountered the Blackfoot warriors on his way back from the Pacific Coast. Trying to ensure them that the US government wanted peace, they camped together only to awaken to the warriors stealing guns and horses.

Their government was organized much differently than the US government. They were lead by a chief who was advised by a tribal council. Some of the famous warriors were: Nenastako and Big Brave.

Though they had warriors, they were known to be a peaceful tribe. Dog Child was a Blackfoot scout and interpreter for North Western Mounted Police. Crowfoot was respected by the white people for his loyalty and anti-war stance. Lame Bull made a peace treaty with the US government in exchange for $20,000 a year in goods and services for moving onto the reservation. Anthony Henday of the Hudson Bay Company encouraged the Blackfoot Confederacy to set trading posts. Their fur trade made them a dominant tribe.

In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the Blackfoot back their rights and government and helped them to reestablish their tribe.

Click on the interactive map to see where events in the Blackfoot Tribe's history occurred.

TODAY

The Blackfoot Tribe looks very different today than what they once were. They once owned a vast amount of land in Montana, Idaho, and Canada. Hunting buffalo was a way of life. After white settlers moved in and almost killed off the buffalo into extinction, their way of life changed.

Most of the Blackfoot people still live in their original tribal region. In 2010, their population was 10,405. It increased to 11,922 in 2017. Today, there are 25,000 Blackfoot tribe members living in America .

Their reservation's major income source is oil and natural gas. The Blackfoot women are still known for their quill embroidery and native beadwork designs. The Blackfoot community college generated 7.5 million in funding for a Health Science building to meet more health care needs within the community. The brave people everyone know as the Blackfoot tribe, have changed so much since when they started to how they are now!

This is a picture of the beautiful Bear River!

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