blackfeet

Truth and consequences on the reservation–the Elouise Cobell story

Elouise Cobell on the Blackfeet Reservation

Elouise Cobell (Yellow Bird Woman) heard the stories for years: the government was cheating Native Americans on payments for land rights. She took up the cause, and now the Blackfoot Indians are poised to reap billions. In Blackfoot country, passing down stories from one generation to the next is an intricate part of tribal culture. The people who live here at the foot of the Montana Rockies pride themselves on the accuracy of this oral tradition. In the spring, when…

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The Blackfoot Language: A Window into the Culture and History of the Blackfoot People

Blackfoot language territory map and flags

The Blackfoot language is a member of the Algonquian language family and is spoken by the Blackfoot people in North America. It is an indigenous language that is predominantly spoken in Alberta, Canada, and also in Montana, USA. The Blackfoot language has two main dialects: Siksika and Kainai. It is an endangered language with only a few thousand speakers remaining, mainly elderly people.

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Story of the Ancient Blackfeet

Blackfeet of the Plains

Long, long ago, before our fathers or grand-fathers were born, before the white people knew anything about the western half of North America, the Indians who told these stories lived on the Western plains.

To the west of their home rose high mountains, black with pine-trees on their lower slopes and capped with snow, but their tents were pitched on the rolling prairie. For a little while in spring this prairie was green and dotted with flowers, but for most of the year it stretched away brown and bare, north, east, and south, farther than one could see.

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