Blackfeet Indians

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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Blackfeet / Blackfoot Subdivisions and Bands

The Blackfeet / Blackfoot tribes were divided into the following divisions: The Siksika or Blackfeet proper, occupying the northern part of their territory; the Kainah or Bloods south of the preceding, and the Peigan or Piegan, south of the Kainah, the one best represented in the United States. Here is a chart of the bands that made up each division.

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Did the Blackfeet Indians develop a particular breed of horse?

QUESTION
I know the Blackfeet Indians had a reputation as fierce warriros and excellent horsemen. But did they develop a particular breed of horse?
--Submitted by John L.


Answer:

The Blackfoot Buffalo Horse is a descendant of the Spanish Mustang.

The popular opinion is that all Indian horses descended from animals brought to the Americas by Columbus, and Cortez in the early 1500s, and Ponce de Leon and other later explorers and immigrants. However some Indian tribes say they had horses before Europeans came. The Blackfoot tribes have their own legends about how the blackfoot aquired the horse.

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The Buffalo Rock

A Blackfoot Legend

The buffalo rock, as called by the Blackfeet Indians, was usually a fossil shell of some kind, picked up on the prairie. Whoever found one was considered fortunate, for it was thought to give a person great power over buffalo. The owner put the stone in his lodge, near the fire, and prayed over it. This story reveals not only the use of such a rock, but also a common method of hunting buffalo before the Indians had horses.

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