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The Native AmericanCanadian Indians

Sierra Willis-Bell

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Hi I am a black foot Indian. And I am going totell you about our beliefs, culture and more.

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Religious

 The religious life of the Blackfoot centered upon medicine bundles, and there were more than

fifty of them among the three main Blackfoot groups. The most important bundles to the groupas a whole were the beaver bundles, the medicine pipe bundles, and the Sun Dance bundle.Christianity is practiced now by most Southern Pigeon with Roman Catholicism predominating.

 The Blackfoot apparently never adopted the Ghost Dance, nor is the Peyote Cult present. TheSun Dance and other native religious ceremonies are still practiced among most of theBlackfoot groups.

In ancient times the chief god of the Blackfeet their Creator was Na'pi (Old Man).

 They believe that Old Man can never die. Long ago he left the Blackfeet and went away to theWest, disappearing in the mountains. Before his departure he told them that he would alwaystake care of them, and some day would return.

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Native American Beliefs

Native American Beliefs 

Native American beliefs are deeply rootedin their culture. They believe EVERYTHING

is sacred from the largest mountain tothe smallest plant and animal. It’s allabout HONOR, LOVE, and RESPECT. Notonly do they love, honor, and respect theyCreator and Mother Earth, but also every

living thing. They also believe that theirElders hold the answers and the Eldershelp keep their culture alive. They alsobelieve they have much to learn from

their Elders, and that they deserve andreceive the utmost respect.

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beliefs

“The world of the Blackfeet , their entireuniverse, is inhabited by good and evil spirits.

 They believe in the supernatural and it wasaccepted as a significant part of their everyday

life, without the need to analyze or rationalizeit. They believe in the "Sun Power" as thesource of all power. It is everywhere; in themountains, lakes, rivers, birds, and wild

animals, and this power can be transferred topeople. The gift, usually in the form of songs,comes through the medium of some animal,bird, or supernatural being. Their songs weremeant to contact the spirit powers. The power

bestowed can heal the sick, help the tribe, or

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Photo time

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culture

Blackfeet have remained a deeply spiritual people that have struggled to preserve and protectour culture, language, way of life, and way of thinking.

We have an incredibly rich heritage of traditions, customs, beliefs, art, and stories.

 Traditional music - drumming and singing

Dances reflected our emphasis on hunting and war and were usually held in summer.

Members were honored in the dances for bravery, skill, or generosity. The Sun Dance was anannual sacred celebration of the sun, occurring in mid-summer. It was initiated by the “vowwoman,” a virtuous woman who vowed to take on the responsibilities of sponsoring the SunDance. The Sun Dance required the construction of a special circular lodge, and involved menfasting and praying, and dancing from the wall to a central pole and back inside the lodge.

 The Sun Dance lasted four days, and voluntary piercing of the chest for ritual purposes wassometimes a concluding feature of the dance.

Medicine bundles continue to be a central part of our ceremonial and spiritual life. These

bundles were originally wrapped in rawhide, but today may be wrapped in cloth or hide. Theyusually contain the things needed to perform a particular ceremony or ritual, for exampletobacco, pipe, paint, sweet grass, beaver hide, war shirt, knife, lance, or other items. Whentreated in certain ways, these bundles have the power needed to perform our most importantand spiritual ceremonies. Medicine bundles and the power they contain are commonly passedfrom one person to another in an elaborate ceremony when the time is right to do so.

In the Blackfoot culture, men were responsible for choosing their marriage partners. In order toeven get a chance to receive permission to marry, the male would have to show the woman’s

father his skills as a hunter or warrior. If the father was impressed and had agreed to themarriage, the man and woman would exchange gifts of horses and clothes and wereconsidered married. It was permitted for a male to have more than one wife, but typically they

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  Blackfoot Tribe

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 Is the name of the tribe "Blackfoot" or "Blackfeet"? Where did this name come from? "Blackfoot" is the English translation of the word siksika, which means "black foot." It refers to the dark colored moccasins the people wear. Some Blackfoot people are annoyed by the plural"Blackfeet," which is obviously an Anglicization. But most Blackfoot people accept both terms. "Blackfoot" is more commonly used in Canada, and "Blackfeet" is more commonly used in the UnitedStates.

Where do the Blackfeet Indians live? The Blackfeet Indians are original residents of the northern Plains, particularly Montana, Idaho, and Alberta, Canada. Most Blackfoot people still li ve in this region today.

What language do the Blackfeet speak?Most Blackfoot Indians speak English today, but about half of them also speak their native Blackfoot language. Blackfoot is a

musical language that has complicated verbs with many parts. Most Blackfoot words are very long and difficult forEnglish speakers to pronounce, but one easy word that you might like to learn is "Oki" (pronounced "oh-kee,") whichmeans "Hello!"

How do Blackfoot Indian children live, and what did they do for recreation?

Blackfoot children do the same things all children do--play with each other, go to school and help around the house.Many Blackfoot children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Indian kids had more chores andless time to play, just like colonial children. But they did have dolls, toys, and special games (hoop game popular inthe Black feet tribe). Blackfoot mothers, like many Native Americans, carried their babies in cradleboards on theirbacks--a custom which many American parents have adopted now.

What were Blackfoot men and women's roles?

Blackfoot women were in charge of the home. Besides cooking and cleaning, a Blackfoot woman built her family'shouse and dragged the heavy posts with her whenever the tribe moved. Houses belonged to the women in theBlackfoot tribe. Blackfoot men were hunters and sometimes went to war to defend their families. Most Blackfootchiefs and warriors were men. Both genders took part in storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine.

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More facts

What was Blackfoot transportation like in the days before cars? Did they paddle canoes?

 The Blackfoot Indians weren't coastal people, and when they traveled by river, they usually built rafts. There were no horsesin North America until colonists brought them over from Europe, so the Blackfeet used to use dogs pulling travois (a kind of drag sled) to help them carry their belongings over land. Once horses were introduced the Blackfoot culturequickly adopted to them and the people became much more migratory.

What are Blackfoot arts and crafts like? Blackfoot pouch Blackfoot artists are known for their fine quill embroidery and beadwork . Here are some photo

galleries of Blackfeet art and artifacts for you to look at.

What were Blackfoot weapons and tools like in the past?Blackfoot hunters and warriors fired arrows from powerful long bows or fought with clubs and hide shields. Traditionally mostwarriors were men, but some Plains Indian women, especially widows, would ride to war with the men.

Plains Indian tribes treated war differently than European countries did. They didn't fight over territory but instead to provetheir courage, and so Plains Indian war parties rarely fought to the death and almost never destroyed each other's villages.Instead, they preferred to count coup (touch an opponent in battle without harming him), steal an enemy's weapon or horse,or force the other tribe's warriors to retreat. The Europeans who first met them were surprised by how often the Blackfoottribe fought with their neighbors--even the different Blackfoot bands often fought one another--yet how easily they madepeace with each other when they were done fighting.

Who were some famous Blackfeet Indians?One famous Blackfoot Indian chief was Crowfoot , who led the Blackfoot people in Canada during the second half of the 19thcentury. Crowfoot was an accomplished warrior and a gifted diplomat. He was most famous for negotiating peace between theBlackfoot Nation and the Canadian government, and for fighting alcoholism among the Blackfoot people. Crowfoot was alsothe adopted father of the Cree chief Poundmaker, and became close friends w ith the Sioux leader Sitting Bull.

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Blackfoot Language

If a group of people, speaking a single, relatively the same kind of language, but split into smaller groups, they each develop their owndialect of the language. This is due to the fact that every livinglanguage is slowly and slightly changing, and with interruptedcommunication between groups of speakers, the language changesmay differ in kind or rate in the different groups.

 These differences, though few and almost never causing any difficultyin communication, are sufficiently well known that speakers from oneband can usually identify the dialect of a speaker from another band of people.

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sik 

siksinááttsiwa

mi'ksinaawa

ótssko

 

máóhk 

ótsskoinaattsiwa 

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Native American Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug2TrGD7IN

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Native America Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug2TrGD7INY

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QUIZ BOWL

1. The Blackfoot nation was madeup of how many tribes?

A. 2

B. 4

C. None of the above

Answer:B

2. How did the name Blackfeetoriginated?

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More quiz bowl questions

6. Which native Americans were we talking about.

A. Blackfoot

B. Sun dance

C. None of the above

Answer:

A

7. What was one of their beliefs ?

Answer:

They believe in the "Sun Power" as the source of all power and that it is everywhere (in the mountains, lakes, rivers, birds, and wild animals,and this power can be transferred to people).

8. Who was a famous Blackfoot Indian?

Answer:

Indian chief  Crowfoot 

9. Tell me something about their religion.

Answer:

Medicine bundles continue to be a central part of our ceremonial and spiritual life. These bundles were originally wrapped in rawhide (forexample tobacco, pipe, paint, sweet grass, beaver hide, war shirt, knife, lance, or other items).

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Now you really know about Blackfoot Indians .

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Conclusion

 Thank You and I hope you enjoyed and learnedsomething about the Blackfoot Nation!!!!!!!!!