LibGuides: Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Blackfoot (Siksika)

Niitsítpiis-stahkoii ᖹᐟᒧᐧᐨᑯᐧ ᓴᐦᖾᐟ (Blackfoot / Niitsítapi ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ)(Authentic Voice) native-land.ca Map of Blackfoot territories and links to the websites of Blackfoot nations
The story of the Niitsitapiisini: Our Way of Life exhibition Niitsitapiisini: Our Way of Life was the result of a groundbreaking partnership between Glenbow Museum and the Blackfoot Confederacy. Eighteen Blackfoot elders worked with Glenbow staff to lead the design of the exhibition and infuse traditional knowledge and contemporary lived experiences into an innovative storytelling experience that shared the history and culture of the Blackfoot people.
Siksika Nation website (Authentic Voice)
Kainai First Nation website (Authentic Voice)
Blackfoot Confederacy
Kainai (Blood)
Piikani
Siksika (Blackfoot)
Buffalo hunt

Buffalo Uses Glenbow Museum

Tipi
Sun Dance
Sweat Lodge
Plains Indigenous Peoples in Canada
The Plains People
Canada's First People
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This is not an authentic resource

Four Directions Teachings: Blackfoot This website provides information about the culture of five Indigenous Peoples—Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Nēhiyaw (Cree), Mi’kmaq, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), and Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk).

Blackfoot Crossing National Historic Park

Our World Blackfoot Elder and Glenbow educator Sheldon First Rider introduces us to the first story in Niitsitapiisini: Our Way of Life
Blackfoot Caretakers Of The Land | Wilderness Sessions | Earth Unplugged (2:48) The ancestors of Treffery Deerfoot have long had a deep connect with the land they call home in Alberta, Canada. Treffery is a member of the Black Foot Confederacy, a group of aboriginal Americans that were once nomadic bison hunters across the northern Great Plains of Western North America.
Indigenous Language Lesson: Siksika Nation (1:51) Nov 27, 2019 Indigenous Language Lessons Oki, Library friends. Always wanted to learn the Blackfoot language? Today we're studying some key phrases with Serenity, a member of the Siksika nation. Follow along as she teaches Ashley some of this Treaty 7 language's most important words.
USAY Blackfoot Learning Guide (5:06) Check out this video learning guide that engages Indigenous children and youth with the Blackfoot language, to improve transmission of this endangered language.
A History of Blackfoot Clothing (2:22) Rebecca Many Grey Horses explains the historical changes and adaptation of the Niitsitapi, Blackfoot, clothing. Learn about how the creation of clothing materials and styles changed from pre-colonization through the fur trade era into the reservation period. Niitsitapi were versatile in making their clothing from materials that were available, taking great pride in their artistic skills but also using spiritual symbols on their clothing. Today, those designs still exist and are passed from generation to generation. The styles impact the powwow regalia that Niitsitapi dancers wear to dance today, as they continue to adopt and adapt traditional and historical clothing and styles.
Sacred items returned after nearly 150 years | APTN News (2:05) Sacred items that belonged to a 19-century Blackfoot leader have been returned to Siksika Nation after being housed in a British museum for nearly 150 years.
New Siksika Nation Youth Housing | APTN News (2:29) A new housing complex is now open on Siksika First Nation, Alta to house high-risk families and children in the foster care system on reserve.

Blackfoot (Siksika) Collection
Blackfoot Stories
District Learning Centre
(AbEd Library)
Niitsitapiisini our way of life: Traditional Stories We teach our children about our history and culture through our stories. Many of these stories are very old and explain how the spirits of plants and animals have helped us to survive. These stories have important messages that explain how we, as Niisitapi, should behave. They also show us the consequences of not acting properly. Our grandmothers would tell us these stories in the evenings when we were calm and could pay attention to their meanings.

Wolf Collars Story Robe

Blackfoot Pow Wow (2:06) Video shows two Blackfoot Pow Wows. The first in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, Canada and the second in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
AGES 12-17 Ballad of Crowfoot (Willie Dunn 1968 | 10 min) Released in 1968 and often referred to as Canada’s first music video, The Ballad of Crowfoot was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi’kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the NFB. The film is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The IFC’s inaugural release, Crowfoot was the first Indigenous-directed film to be made at the NFB.

Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Blackfoot (Siksika)

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From Dempsey, Hugh A.. "Blackfoot Confederacy." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada.