page_title: Blackfoot Confederacy
section_title: Continuing traditions
hierarchical_section_title: Blackfoot Confederacy / Contemporary Blackfoot / Continuing traditions
caption_attribution_description: English: Chief Mountain in Montana, USA.
context_page_description: The Blackfoot Confederacy, Niitsitapi or Siksikaitsitapi is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people: The Siksika, the Kainai or Kainah, and two sections of the Piikani, the Northern Piikani and the Southern Piikani. Broader definitions include groups, like the Tsúùtínà and A'aninin, spoke quite different languages but allied or joined with the Blackfoot Confederacy as well.
  Historically, the member peoples of the Confederacy were nomadic bison hunters and trout fishermen, who ranged across large areas of the northern Great Plains of western North America, specifically the semi-arid shortgrass prairie ecological region. They followed the bison herds as they migrated between what are now the United States and Canada, as far north as the Bow River. In the first half of the 18th century, they acquired horses and firearms from white traders and their Cree and Assiniboine go-betweens. The Blackfoot used these to expand their territory at the expense of neighboring tribes.
context_section_description: 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.
  The people have revived the Black Lodge Society, responsible for protecting songs and dances of the Blackfoot. They continue to announce the coming of spring by opening five medicine bundles, one at every sound of thunder during the spring. 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. 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.
caption: Chief Mountain is sacred to the Blackfoot. The mountain marks the boundary between the Blackfoot reservation in Montana and Glacier National Park.
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