M. TAL FEATHERS

The women brought in the food.
There was Indian fry bread, berry soup, boiled dried meat,

pemmican and pepperment tea. 15


fae wie VOW Se rif

(ibe

a q ISSieith ae a

Wet.

WM d i}
Wh — = / MV yn =
* Mey WZ we Mn
Ree ale Meets “ We Let, = M heey
; =] wee Mel Ue
yee w w. %X hes wens he Mee
. Liew
any, We We
ee ay Me AW w (i a Me
see lle tee tee Wow Men de

Ala We AU WAR

atl.

Eagle Plume invited the people.
They gathered that evening at his house.


Eagle Plume warned, “Do not fall down, my friends,
or bad luck will fall upon you.”
The dancing went on until early morning.

19


This story took place in the early nineteen hundreds.

It is about the Blacktail Dance, one of the sacred ceremonies
of the Blackfeet Indians which is still performed today

by some people. The Blacktail Dance ceremony is given to
honor a promise made to the Great Spirit, to show gratitude
for a promise fulfilled by him or to show thankfulness.

It is believed that bad luck will come if the ceremony is

not performed as promised.

The Blacktail Dance originated in a dream of a Blackfeet
Indian many years ago. In the dream, the person met a deer
who told him how to perform this ceremony for good luck.
The person was also taught a song for the ceremony.

The Blackfeet Indian people have been great believers
in dreams and visions. Many people still have Indian songs
which have been handed down from generation to generation
in their families. Only the family owners of the songs
can start singing them in ceremonies.


16

After the feast, Eagle Plume went to the middle of the floor.
He held some sacred deer hoofs in his hands.


JOAN BULLSHOE KENNERLY

Mrs. Kennerly has twenty years of teaching experience in
the Blackfeet and Northern Cheyenne public school sys-
tems and was the first runnerup for the 1972 Montana
Teacher of the Year. She received her B.A. ineducation from
Northern Montana College and her M.A. in education from
Arizona State University. She was responsible for estab-
lishing Native American Day for the State, and was ap-
pointed by the Governor of Montana to serve on the Com-
mission on Post Secondary Education. She also was the
Chairperson of House Joint Resolution 60, which estab-
lished the Master Plan for Indian Education for the State of
Montana. She has two children.

JUNE BULLSHOE TATSEY

Mrs. Tatsey is a Blackfeet Indian with sixteen yearsexperi-
ence in teaching grades one through eight and pre-school in
the public school system on the Blackfeet Reservation. She
received her B.S. in education from Northern Montana
College and her M.A. in guidance and counseling from the
University of South Dakota and the University of Montana.
She was the reading supervisor and is now vice-principal at
K.W. Bergen Elementary School in Browning, on the
Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

CARMEN BULLSHOE MARCEAU

Mrs. Marceau is a Blackfeet Indian with eighteen years
teaching experience. She has had one year experience in
guidance and counseling on the Blackfeet Reservation and
is principal of Browning Elementary School. She received
her B.S. in education from Northern Montana College and
her M.A. in guidance and counseling from the University of
South Dakota and the University of Montana.

DORIS BULLSHOE OLD PERSON

Mrs. Old Person has eighteen years experience teaching in
the Blackfeet Public School System. She has specialized in
remedial reading and has been Head Start Director-
Supervisor for ESEA Title land Director of the Native Song
and Dance Program. She received her B.A. from Northern
Montana College and her M.A. in education from Arizona
State University. She has five children.

Mrs. Kennerly, Mrs. Tatsey, Mrs Marceau, and Mrs. Old
Person are the daughters of Lillian and Francis Bullshoe.
They were raised on a ranch near Badger Creek in the
Blackfeet Reservation countryside.

All four women had similar educational backgrounds. They
attended Mad Plume School (a one room rural school), the
Blackfeet Indian Boarding School, and all but Mrs. Tatsey
attended Flandreau Indian School in South Dakota. They
all graduated from Browning High School. At the present
time the four women are teaching in the Blackfeet Public
School System in Browning, Montana.

MELVIN TAILFEATHERS

Mr. Tailfeathers is a self-taught artist who has lived on the
Blackfeet Reservation all his life. His grandmother was a
Blackfeet medicine woman. Mr. Tailfeathers prefers to do
pen and ink sketches of Blackfeet life although he some-
times works with ceramic figurines.


18

ee
Eagle Plume started to sing his song.

Everyone stood and danced in a circle.
They moved up and down like deer to the beat of the song.
After Eagle Plume had finished his song,
Aimsback stood up, prayed and sang his song.
The people danced.
This went on and on as each person who had a song of his own
took his turn.



13

One by one the people went up to get blessed with the smudge.
This would cleanse their minds and bodies for the ceremony.


The Medicine Man started doctoring Eagle Boy
while the drummers sang medicine songs.


ea

rs

She walked over to him to see what was wrong.
He was very sick!


~ \ NQ _ M4. Tanfén mens—

One day, Lone Star Woman called to Eagle Boy,
“Get up, myson, and get some water”
Eagle Boy did not move or answer.


M. TAwfeatuces—

Eagle Plume and his helpers sang four Blacktail songs.

Then it was time to eat.

14


WL,

©6)
= CE
| Joy ts Ye
7.7 Te Wa! Mee AS 7: “he, Vestal wi ae =i “Hi a GM Aes,

Ww TWA Wye iW
We 8 yw May We a My, A UAV Mm. Tat fees

Soon Eagle Plume was s back with the Medicine Man.



20

Ut ,

CY

My iia

MApapearics—
Finally, Long Fingers sang the Morning Song.
Everyone knew it was time to go home

because no one was allowed to dance
after this song was sung.


The °Blacktail “Dance

The Indian Reading Series

Wan E ‘ Aly
Mt ly", Niels May

Y ow

(DEVIN TAu FeatHeme

Level Ill Book 3


SQ ee 7 S
NN i \ Oe
After a few days had passed, Eagle Boy sat up

and asked his mother for something to eat.
Soon he was up and around.


zy YY

"2
‘ =, Uf

by, al, dp. La Uy

1) Jou frarnens—

Po

Lone Star Woman made a promise to the Great Spirit.
“If my boy gets well, I will give a Blacktail Dance
in his honor?


uh, wht see Witee Wh
We we WH WM Assi

ih G
WAY A ee Uk
re Mn « "

She called to her husband,
“Eagle Plume, get the Medicine Man.
Eagle Boy is very sick!”


St

UA

Y

MY fpr
Ye
ee

M. TAU FeaTHERS—

Eagle Plume shook the hoofs as his helpers shook bells.
The people felt the sacred meaning of the dance

in their hearts.
They wanted to dance.

17


Booklets available in the Level ITI sequence are listed below. Numbers refer to the planned sequence of use
in the Teacher’s Manual. Materials developed by these tribes and others in the Northwest are included in

the Levels I and II sequences.

1 Story of the Seasons
The Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon

2 The Beginning of the Earth
The Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon
3 The Blacktail Dance
Blackfeet Tribe

4 How Marten Got His Spots
Kootenai Cultural Committee of
The Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

5 Lost in the Fog
Jamestown-Clallam Tribe

6 How to Be a Friend
The Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon

7 How the Morning and Evening Stars
Came to Be
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the
Fort Peck Reservation

8 Raccoon’s Black Eyes and Ringed Tail
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the
Fort Hall Reservation

9 Coyote and Old Lady
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the
Fort Hall Reservation

10 Coyote and Trout

Kootenai Cultural Committee of
The Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

11 How the Milky Way Got into the Sky
The Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon

12 Inkdomi and the Buffalo
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the
Fort Peck Reservation

13 Medicine Horse
Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the
Fort Hall Reservation

14 The Good Hunter and Fisherman
Jamestown-Clallam Tribe

15 The Wild Buffalo Ride
Blackfeet Tribe

161 Ama Rock
Crow Tribal Historical and Cultural
Commission

17 The Man Who Loved Shell Money
Skokomish Tribe

18 Old Man Napi
Blackfeet Tribe

19 The Turtle Who Went to War
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the
Fort Peck Reservation

20 Coyote and the Mean Mountain Sheep
Salish Cultural Committee of
The Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
Reservation

For order information and prices of the above booklets and the Teacher’s Manual, contact the publisher:

Educational Systems, Inc.
2360 Southwest 170th Street
Beaverton, Oregon 97005

(503) 649-7516


Developed by the Pacific Northwest Indian Reading and Language Development Program
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 710 Southwest Second Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204

Copyright ©1978 by the Blackfeet Tribe
Allrights reserved.

The work upon which this publication is based was performed pursuant to Contract
No. 400-76-0048, with the Educational Equity Group/Multicultural/Bilingual Division
of the National Institute of Education. It does not, however, necessarily reflect the
views of that agency.

This publication is not printed at the expense of the Federal Government.
Published by Educational Systems, Inc. 2360 Southwest 170th Street, Beaverton, Oregon 97005
Printed and bound in the United States of America


10

Myaurestuere—

When everyone was there, the Blacktail Dance began.
Eagle Plume started praying.

Then he sang two Blacktail songs.

These songs had been given to him by his moter and father.


yp GY
YE YYUVGY

Wd Mh hiding iN

LLM LLB

M.TAICFeatHers

She put sweet grass on the coals to make it smoke.

12 The smell of the sweet grass filled the room.


THE INDIAN READING SERIES:
Stories and Legends of the Northwest

The Blacktail Dance
Level III Book 3

Developed by the Blackfeet Indians
Written by Joan Kennerly, Carmen Marceau, Doris Old Person, June Tatsey
Illustrated by Melvin Tailfeathers

Joseph Coburn, Director
Pacific Northwest Indian Program
Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory



GD Z = z _#

—  —

fo a rr

Lone Star Woman put a happy Eagle Boy to bed.
The Indian parents were thankful that Eagle Boy was well
and their promise had been fulfilled.

21


THE INDIAN READING SERIES: Stories and Legends of the
Northwest is a collection of authentic material cooperatively devel-
oped by Indian people from twelve reservations. Development ac-
tivities are guided by a Policy Board which represents the Indian
community of the Pacific Northwest. The Pacific Northwest Indian
Reading and Language Development Program Policy Board members
are:

* Warren Clements — Warm Springs
Chairman

* Morrie Jimenez — Klamath

« Joan Kennerly — Blackfeet

Walter Moffett — Nez Perce

« Emmett Oliver — Quinault

* Bob Parsley — Chippewa

* Lloyd Smith — Warm Springs

* Max Snow

¢ Jeanne Thomas — Yakima


ae THE INDIAN READING SERIES:
% Stories and Legends of the Northwest


“Eagle Plume, now it is time to give the Blacktail Dance

to give thanks for our son getting well?
said Lone Star Woman.


Next the fire was made.

Lone Star Woman placed a hollow rock filled with hot coals
in the middle of the room.

11