Blackfoot Indians
 |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (32,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Canada(  Saskatchewan,  Alberta,  British Columbia (part)) United States(  Montana,  Wyoming (part)  Idaho) |
|
| Languages | |
| English, Blackfoot | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional beliefs, Sun Dance, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Algonquian peoples |
| Type | Confederacy |
|---|---|
|
Membership
|
North Peigan, South Peigan, Kainai, Siksika Later: Sarcee, Gros Ventres |
The Blackfoot Confederacy, Niitsitapi or Siksikaitsitapi (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot-speaking real people") is a historic collective name for the four bands that make up the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people: three First Nation band governments in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, and one Native American tribe in Montana, United States. The Siksika ("Blackfoot"), the Kainai or Kainah ("Blood"), and the Northern Piegan or Peigan or Piikani ("Apa’tosee" or "Poor Robes") reside in Canada; the Southern Piegan/Piegan Blackfeet ("Amskapi Piikani" or Pikuni) are located in the United States, where they are also known as the Blackfeet Nation. In modern use, the term is sometimes used only for the three First Nations in Canada.
Historically, the member peoples of the Confederacy were nomadic bison hunters and trout fishermen, who ranged across large areas of the northern Great Plains of Western North America, specifically the semi-arid shortgrass prairie ecological region. They followed the bison herds as they migrated between what are now the United States and Canada, as far north as the Bow River. In the first half of the 18th century, they acquired horses and firearms from white traders and their Cree and Assiniboine go-betweens. The Blackfoot used these to expand their territory at the expense of neighboring tribes. Now riding horses, the Blackfoot and other Plains tribes could also extend the range of their buffalo hunts.
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Wikipedia