Description
The Blackfeet settled in the region around Montana beginning in the 17th century. Previously, they resided in an area of the woodlands north and west of the Great Lakes. Pressure exerted by British traders at James Bay in present day Canada on the Algonquin-speaking tribes in the area drove the Blackfeet out onto the Northern Plains. They eventually acquired firearms and horses, and the acquisition of these two pieces of technology allowed them to become a formidable example of the classic Plains Indian culture. Blackfoot tribe composed of three closely related bands, the Piegan, or Piikuni; the Blood, or Kainah (also spelled Kainai, or Akainiwa); and the Siksika, or Blackfoot proper (often referred to as the Northern Blackfoot).
Language
The Blackfoot language, also called Siksika, often anglicised as Siksika, is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America.
Culture
Blackfoot culture is based on the bison hunt, linking them to the Plains. They lived on the land, following bison across the plains to hunting. Blackfoot people lived in camps sheltering in tipis.They also hunted other large game such as deer, supplementing their diet with nuts, fruits and vegetables. The bison remained the most important element of their economy, diet and way of life. For three decades after their first treaty with the United States in 1855, the Blackfoot declined to forsake hunting in favour of farming. When the buffalo were almost exterminated in the early 1880s, nearly one-quarter of the Piegan died of starvation. Thereafter the Blackfoot took up farming and ranching.