Description
The Sarsi are a group with close linguistic relationships to the Sekani and Beaver to the west and northwest. They now number about five hundred and live on the Sarcee Reserve just southwest of Calgary, Alberta. At the time of contact, with Matthew Cocking in 1772-1773 and Alexander Mackenzie in 1789, the Sarsi inhabited the drainage area of the Athabaska River south to the North Saskatchewan River. At the beginning of the nineteenth century their main hunting grounds were around the latter river. They differed culturally from the neighboring Athapaskan-speaking groups in being heavily infused with Plains Indian cultural features, owing to their long association with the Blood and Northern Blackfoot. By the early nineteenth century they had obtained horses and guns.
Language
Athapaskan
Culture
The Sarsi were organized into bands, each composed of several closely related families who hunted and camped Together. Band membership was fluid with much splitting and movement of families. Band leadership rested on individual prestige, with no leader holding absolute powers. The dances of the male societies, as well as the Sun Dance, were the most important tribal Ceremonies. The dead were given scaffold burials with their clothing and personal possessions. Personal horses were killed. Band leaders or noted warriors were left in abandoned tipis. Personal power was obtained in dreams and visions. In the past, the Sarsi were allied with the Blackfoot against the Assiniboin and Cree.