Editing Blackfoot religion (section)

==Cosmology==
In Blackfeet Indian mythology, the supernatural world is dominated by the Sun. The Sun (Nah-too-si; Super powered or Holiness) is equated with the Creator (Apistotoke) by some anthropologists.<ref>"Natosi, The Blackfoot Sun God (Natos, Notos)". Native-Languages.Org, 2015, http://www.native-languages.org/natosi.htm. Accessed 3 Apr 2019.</ref> The Creator is said to have created the earth and everything in the universe.<ref>"Creation". Blackfootcrossing.Ca, 2018, by Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park http://www.blackfootcrossing.ca/creation.html. Accessed 3 Apr 2019.</ref> Nah-too-si is sometimes personified by the mystical Napi, or Old Man. Napi was said to have been sent by the Nah-too-si to teach people how to live a sinless life, like he and his wife, Ksah-koom-aukie, Earth Woman. A-pi-su'-ahts(early riser) was the only surviving child of Sun and Moon, after the rest were attacked and killed by pelicans.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sattler|first1=Richard A.|last2=Howard|first2=James H.|date=1985|title=Oklahoma Seminoles: Medicines, Magic, and Religion|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/481914|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=32|issue=4|pages=403|doi=10.2307/481914|jstor=481914 |issn=0014-1801}}</ref> Napi is said to have given the Blackfoot visions and, by implication, [[Blackfoot music]].

The numbers four and seven, the cardinal directions, the six principle points and center, are important in Blackfoot mythology. Communication is believed to occur between the supernatural world and Blackfoot through visions of guardian spirits, during which songs and ceremonies may be imparted, such as that of medicine bundles. The physical world is seen as just a glimpse of the spiritual dimension, which is actually the true reality.<ref>{{Cite book|last=LaPier|first=Rosalyn R.|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1s475jg|title=Invisible Reality|date=2017-09-01|publisher=UNP - Nebraska|doi=10.2307/j.ctt1s475jg |isbn=978-1-4962-0240-6}}</ref> The Blackfoot people name themselves "Real People"<ref>{{Citation|last=Lokensgard|first=Kenneth H.|title=Blackfoot Nation|date=2014|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9077|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion|pages=184–188|place=Boston, MA|publisher=Springer US|doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9077 |isbn=978-1-4614-6085-5 |access-date=2021-11-10}}</ref> in comparison to anyone that does not possess the ability to communicate with the spirit world like the members of the Blackfoot tribe.  

Ceremonies include the [[Sun Dance]], called Medicine Lodge by the Blackfoot in English,<ref>Block, Michael D. “Blackfeet.” ''Encyclopedia of Native American History, Volume 1'', Facts On File, 2011. ''American Indian History'', online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=14233&itemid=WE43&articleId=359288. Accessed 7 Oct. 2021.</ref> in which sacrifices would be made to Sun. According to the legend the ceremony, the Sun Dance, was started when a human woman, named Feather-woman fell in love with Morning Star, the child of Sun and Moon. After plucking the sacred turnip she and her half-divine son were banished from the Sky-Country, and eventually she died leaving her son, Poïa (Scar-Face), orphaned. Eventually he makes his way back to Sky-Country and because his grandparents, Sun and Moon, took mercy on him he honored them by doing the Sun Dance once a year.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Spence|first=Lewis|date=1915|title=The Myths and Legends of the North American Indians|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/29738110|journal=The Journal of Race Development|volume=6|issue=1|pages=107|doi=10.2307/29738110|jstor=29738110 |issn=1068-3380|hdl=2027/uiug.30112052589550|hdl-access=free}}</ref> These sacrifices ranged from offering sweat,<ref>{{Citation|last=Lokensgard|first=Kenneth H.|title=Blackfoot Nation|date=2014|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9077|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion|pages=184–188|place=Boston, MA|publisher=Springer US|doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9077 |isbn=978-1-4614-6085-5 |access-date=2021-11-10}}</ref> through the use of sweat lodges to actual offerings of flesh, for example men from the tribe would rip off ropes tied to their skin as sacrifices to Sun.<ref>{{Citation|last=Ostler|first=Jeffrey|title=Genocide and American Indian History|date=2015-03-02|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.3|encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.3 |isbn=978-0-19-932917-5 |access-date=2021-11-10}}</ref> The Medicine Lodge would require the Blackfoot to promise vows of eventual sacrifice to Sun throughout the year after requesting protection from war or for family members, or after praying for the health of the tribe.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Crooks|first=Alan F.|date=1966|title=Blackfoot Lodge Tales: The Story of a Prairie People by George Bird Grinnell|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/wal.1966.0018|journal=Western American Literature|volume=1|issue=1|pages=68–69|doi=10.1353/wal.1966.0018|issn=1948-7142}}</ref>