Editing Blackfoot Confederacy (section)

== People ==
{{Infobox ethnic group
|group=Blackfoot, Niitsítapi, Siksikaitsitapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ
|image=[[File:Blackfoot - Bear Bull.jpg|200px|center]]Bear Bull, Blackfoot translator photographed by [[Edward S. Curtis]] (1926)
|population=32,000
|popplace={{flagicon|Canada}} '''[[Canada]]'''<br />({{flagicon|Saskatchewan}} [[Saskatchewan]], {{flagicon|Alberta}} [[Alberta]], {{flagicon|British Columbia}} [[British Columbia]] (part))<br /><br />{{flagicon|USA}} '''[[United States]]'''<br />({{flagicon|Montana}} [[Montana]], {{flagicon|Wyoming}} [[Wyoming]] (part) {{flagicon|Idaho}} [[Idaho]])
|rels=[[Blackfoot religion|Traditional beliefs]], [[Sun Dance]], [[Christianity]]
|langs=[[English language|English]], [[Blackfoot language|Blackfoot]]
|related=[[Algonquian peoples]]
}}

=== Ethnic divisions ===
The largest ethnic group in the Confederacy is the ''Piegan'', also spelled ''Peigan'' or ''Pikuni''.  Their name derives from the Blackfoot term ''Piikáni''.  They are divided into the [[Piikani Nation]] (''Aapátohsipikáni'' ("the companion up there") or simply ''Piikáni'') in present-day Alberta, and the [[South Peigan]] or [[Piegan Blackfeet]] (''Aamsskáápipikani'') in Montana, United States. A once large and mighty division of the Piegan were the Inuk'sik ("the humans")<ref>{{cite web |url=http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05082007-144843/unrestricted/02MAThesis.pdf |author=Linda Matt Juneau |title=The Humans of Blackfeet: Ethnogenesis by Social and Religious Transformation |year=2002 |access-date=16 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219234240/http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05082007-144843/unrestricted/02MAThesis.pdf |archive-date=19 December 2014 }}</ref> of southwestern Montana. Today they survive only as a clan or band of the South Peigan.

The modern [[Kainai Nation]] is named for the Blackfoot-language term ''Káínaa'', meaning "Many Chief people".  These were historically also called the "Blood," from a [[Plains Cree language|Plains Cree]] name for the Kainai: ''Miko-Ew'', meaning "stained with blood" (i.e. "the bloodthirsty, cruel"). The common English name for the tribe is Blood or the Blood tribe.

The [[Siksika Nation]]'s name derives from ''Siksikáwa,'' meaning "Those of like".  The Siksika also call themselves ''Sao-kitapiiksi,'' meaning "Plains People".<ref>[https://www.blackfeetnationstore.com/coins/coinlinks.html Informational Sites on the Blackfoot Confederacy and Lewis & Clark] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103210622/https://www.blackfeetnationstore.com/coins/coinlinks.html |date=3 January 2011 }}, Blackfeet Nation Store</ref>

The [[Sarcee people|Sarcee]] call themselves the ''Tsu T'ina,'' meaning "a great number of people." During early years of conflict, the Blackfoot called them ''Saahsi'' or ''Sarsi'', "the stubborn ones", in their language.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} The Sarcee are from an entirely different language family; they are part of the [[Athabascan]] or [[Dené]] language family, most of whose members are located in the [[Subarctic peoples|Subarctic]] of [[Northern Canada]].  Specifically, the Sarcee are an offshoot of the [[Beaver (Danezaa)]] people, who migrated south onto the plains sometime in the early eighteenth century. They later joined the Confederacy and essentially merged with the Pikuni ("Once had").

The [[Gros Ventre people]] call themselves the ''Haaninin'' ("white clay people"), also spelled ''A'aninin.'' The French called them ''Gros Ventres'' ("fat bellies"), misinterpreting a physical sign for waterfall; and the English called them the Fall Indians, related to waterfalls in the mountains. The Blackfoot referred to them as the ''Piik-siik-sii-naa'' ("snakes") or ''Atsina'' ("like a Cree"), because of years of enmity.  Early scholars thought the A'aninin were related to the [[Arapaho]] Nation, who inhabited the Missouri Plains and moved west to Colorado and Wyoming.<ref>"The Blackfoot Tribes", ''Science'' 6, no. 146 (20 November 1885), 456–458, {{JSTOR|1760272}}.</ref>  They were allied with the Confederacy from circa 1793 to 1861, but came to disagreement and were enemies of it thereafter.

===Modern communities===

====Economy and services====
[[File:Chief Old Person at USDA 150th Anniversary celebration.jpg|thumb|[[Earl Old Person]], honorary chief of the Blackfoot.]]

Today, many{{quantify|date=August 2012}} of the Blackfoot live on reserves in Canada. About 8,500 live{{when|date=August 2012}} on the Montana reservation of {{convert|1500000|acre|km2}}. In 1896, the Blackfoot sold a large portion of their land to the United States government, which hoped to find gold or copper deposits. No such mineral deposits were found. In 1910, the land was set aside as [[Glacier National Park (U.S.)|Glacier National Park]]. Some Blackfoot work there and occasional Native American ceremonies are held there.<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" />

Unemployment is a challenging problem on the Blackfeet Reservation and on Canadian Blackfoot reserves, because of their isolation from major urban areas. Many people work as farmers, but there are not enough other jobs nearby. To find work, many Blackfoot have relocated from the reservation to towns and cities. Some companies pay the Blackfoot governments to lease use of lands for extracting oil, natural gas, and other resources. The nations have operated such businesses such as the [[Blackfoot Writing Company]], a pen and pencil factory, which opened in 1972, but it closed in the late 1990s. In Canada, the Northern Piegan make traditional craft clothing and moccasins, and the Kainai operate a shopping center and factory.<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" />

In 1974, the Blackfoot Community College, a [[tribal college]], opened in [[Browning, Montana]]. The school is also the location of the tribal headquarters. As of 1979, the Montana state government requires all public school teachers on or near the reservation to have a background in [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] studies.

In 1986, the [[Kainai Nation]] opened the [[Red Crow Community College]] in [[Stand Off, Alberta]]. In 1989, the Siksika tribe in Canada completed the construction of a high school to go along with its elementary school.<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" />

==== Traditional culture ====
[[File:Blackfoot gathering in 1973.JPG|thumb|Blackfoot gathering, [[Alberta]]. 1973]]

[[File:Chief Mountain snow.jpg|thumb|[[Chief Mountain]] is sacred to the Blackfoot. The mountain marks the boundary between the Blackfoot reservation in Montana and Glacier National Park.]]
The Blackfoot continue many cultural traditions of the past and hope to extend their ancestors' traditions to their children. They want to teach their children the Pikuni language as well as other traditional knowledge. In the early 20th century, a white woman named [[Frances Densmore]] helped the Blackfoot record their language. During the 1950s and 1960s, few Blackfoot spoke the Pikuni language. In order to save their language, the Blackfoot Council asked elders who still knew the language to teach it. The elders had agreed and succeeded in reviving the language, so today the children can learn Pikuni at school or at home. In 1994, the Blackfoot Council accepted Pikuni as the official language.<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" />

The people have revived the Black Lodge Society, responsible for protecting songs and dances of the Blackfoot.<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" /> They continue to announce the coming of spring by opening five medicine bundles, one at every sound of thunder during the spring.<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" /> One of the biggest celebrations is called the North American Indian Days. Lasting four days, it is held during the second week of July in Browning. Lastly, the Sun Dance, which was illegal from the 1890s–1934, has been practiced again for years. While it was illegal, the Blackfoot held it in secret. {{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} Since 1934, they have practised it every summer. The event lasts eight days – time filled with prayers, dancing, singing, and offerings to honor the Creator. It provides an opportunity for the Blackfoot to get together and share views and ideas with each other, while celebrating their culture's most sacred ceremonies.<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" />

The Blackfeet Nation in Montana have a blue tribal flag. The flag shows a ceremonial lance or coup stick with 29 feathers. The center of the flag contains a ring of 32 white and black [[eagle]] feathers. Within the ring is an outline map of the Blackfoot Reservation. Within the map is depicted a warrior's headdress and the words "Blackfeet Nation" and "Pikuni" (the name of the tribe in the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] native tongue of the Blackfoot).<ref name="Gibson, 35-42" />