The area's claim to fame has been its natural beauty and its trade routes, from prehistoric time to the present. The Blackfeet people dominated the area long before any European explorers arrived. The Blackfeet were aggressive and protected their hunting grounds from the Kalispel and Kootenai, both western tribes, as well as the Crow, Sioux and Assinboine from the south.
Native people believe that spiritual beings live in every feature of the land.
Animals symbolize human characteristics, such as strength and wisdom in grizzly bears and gossip in the raven. In the northeast corner of Glacier, Chief Mountain was, and still is revered as the home of powerful medicine. Today, the Blackfeet Nation in Montana borders nearly all of eastern Glacier National Park, while the Blood Indian Reserve in Canada lies east of Waterton Lakes National Park. To the southwest, the Reservation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai cover 1.2 million acres. Consider taking a guided tour of a reservation.