Blackfeet Nation

Indians of Montana &gt; Blackfeet Indians

Alternate Names and Spellings: Blackfeet, Blackfoot and Blackfoot Nation ; Pecunnie, Pikuni

History
Originally the Blackfeet lived in the Saskatchewan River Valley of Saskatchewan, Canada, and the upper plains of the United States. By 1850 the tribe had moved to the Rocky Mountains and Missouri River areas.

Smallpox epidemics depopulated the tribe through the 1800's, especially during the years of 1837, 1845, 1857, 1869 and 1870 when the disease was most virulent. In the 1837 epidemic, approximately 6,000 members of the tribe were killed by the disease.

Intertribal conflicts occurred somewhat frequently when the Blackfeet raided neighboring tribes to acquire horses.

In the 1855 Treaty, also known as Lame Bull's Treaty, much of the Blackfeet territory became a common hunting grounds for Piegans, Gros Ventres, Blackfeet, Nez Perces, Flathead, and Bloods.

A treaty between the United States government and the Blackfeet Band of Sioux (often mistaken as the Blackfeet Tribe) was signed in 1865. This treaty did not include the Blackfeet Indians of Montana.

Advancement by settlers to the west created conflict and military actions were taken. One such action occurred in 1870 when a military unit under the direction of Colonel E. M. Baker attacked the winter camp of the Blackfeet on the Marias River, killing 170 men, women, and children and taking 140 prisoners.

With efforts begun as early as 1880, the Jesuits formally dedicated the Holy Family Mission on the Blackfeet Reservation in 1890. They also established a mission school on the reservation in 1895. The Mission was closed in 1941. An inventory of the records of this mission is available through the Northwest Digital Archives.

In 1888 the Blackfeet were gathered to the Blackfeet Reservation with headquarters at the present town of Browning, Montana. In the years 1907 to 1911, land on this reservation was allotted to individual members of the tribe.

Under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Blackfeet Indians became a federally-recognized tribe, with their own Constitution and By-Laws, approved and ratified in the fall of 1935.

Brief Timeline

 * 1700s and 1800s: Living in Canada
 * 1837, 1845, 1857, 1869-70: Smallpox epidemics
 * Prior to 1850: moved west and south to the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri River areas
 * They raided the camps of the Crow, Assiniboin, Cree, Kutenai, Kalispel (or Pend d'Oreille) and Flathead in search of horses
 * 1855: Treaty (Lame Bull's Treaty)
 * 1865: Treaty at Fort Sully involving the Blackfeet Band of Sioux, often mistaken for the Blackfeet Tribe
 * 1870: Colonel E. M. Baker attacked the Blackfeet winter camp on the Marias River in Montana, killing 173 men, women and children and taking more that 140 prisoners.
 * 1877: ceded land in Canada
 * 1880s: settled on reservations in the United States and Canada
 * 1886: ceded land
 * 1888: gathered to Blackfeet Reservation
 * 1895: ceded land
 * 1907-1911: land on the Blackfeet Reservation was allotted to individual members of the tribe
 * 1935: Adopted Constitution and By-Laws

Additional References to the History of the Tribe

 * Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Blackfeet tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.
 * For additional history of the tribe, read more....
 * For a history of the Blackfeet, told from their own perspective, see their history from the tribal website.

Tribal Headquarters
Blackfeet Nation 1 Agency Square Browning, MT 59417 Phone: 406.338.7521 Fax: 406.338.7530

Agencies
The following agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs had jurisdiction over the Blackfeet for the time periods indicated. BIA agencies were responsible to keep such records as census rolls, allotment (land) records, annuity rolls, school records, correspondence, and other records of individual Indians under their jurisdiction. For details, see the page for the respective agency.

The agencies which had jurisdiction over a major portion of the Blackfeet in the United States were:


 * Blackfeet Agency, 1890-
 * Blood Agency, 1890-1896, 1907-1913
 * Piegan Agency, 1890-1913
 * Rocky Boy's Agency, 1907-1913

Census (a specific type of record kept by the BIA Agencies)
The Bureau of Indian Affairs compiled annual Indian Census Rolls on many of the reservations from 1885 to 1940. They list the names of individuals, their age, and other details about each person enumerated. For more information about these records, click here.

The following table lists the census rolls for the Blackfeet Indians:

Correspondence
There are several sets of correspondence between the supervising offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the local offices -- agencies, subagencies, etc. The correspondence is often historical in nature, including reports of the conditions among local groups of Indians, hostilities, plans for building facilities, activities of traders or missionaries, etc. Occasionally, there will be names of individuals but little detail about them. For more information about American Indian correspondence, click here.

The following table lists some of the correspondence records relating to the Blackfeet Indians:

Some correspondence for the following field offices may be included in the records of those offices preserved in the research facilities indicated.

Treaties
During the latter part of the 18th Century and most of the 19th Century, treaties were negotiated between the federal government and individual Indian tribes. The treaties provide helpful information about the history of the tribe, but usually only include the names of those persons who signed the treaty. For more information about treaties, click here.

Treaties to which the Blackfeet Indians were a part were:


 * September 17, 1851, referred to in treaty, at Fort Laramie
 * 1855 October 17,
 * 1865 October 19, at Fort Sully -- this treaty was with the Blackfeet band of Sioux Indians, not the Blackfeet Tribe. They are two different entities or groups.
 * April 29, 1868, at Fort Laramie

Tribal Office Records
The Tribal Office is responsible for enrollment records, vital records, tribal police records, tribal court records, employment records and many others. They are an entirely different set of records from those kept by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most of them remain in the Tribal Office. For details, contact that office at the address for the Tribal Headquarters listed above.

Vital Records
Prior to the Indian Reorganization Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, through their agencies, may have recorded some vital events. Some were recorded on health forms, such as the "Sanitary Record of Sick, Injured, Births, Deaths, etc." Others were recorded as supplements to the "Indian Census Rolls." Some were included in the uinindexed reports and other correspondence of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Some vital records for the Blackfeet Indians include:


 * Blackfeet Agency, M595, Births and Deaths 1924-1932, FHL Film: 573855 and 573856; 1916-1938, FHL film: 573857

Important Web Sites

 * Official Web Site of the Blackfeet Indians of Montana
 * History of the Blackfeet from Frederick Webb Hodge's Indians of North America...
 * Constitution and By-laws for the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, adopted in 1935 and subsequently amended.
 * State Office of Indian Affairs website regarding the Blackfeet Indians
 * Blackfoot Indians Wikipedia
 * Genealogy website for the Blackfoot Indians

Blackfeet Tribe

 * DeMarce, Roxanne. Blackfeet Heritage, 1907-1908; Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Browning, Montana. Browing, Montana: Blackfeet Heritage Program, [1980]. FHL book 970.3 Si29b.
 * Gilham, Robert C. (comp.) Blackfeet Nation Family History: A Compilation of Records of Members of the Blackfeet Nation and Some Non-Indian Relatives. Riverton, Utah: R.C. Gilham, [199-?]. 4 volumes. (All on FH film 2056034)


 * Vol. 1 -- Joseph to Double Blaze, George
 * Vol. 2 -- Double Blaze, Hamilton to Little Dog, Maggie
 * Vol. 3 -- Little Dog, Mary to Running
 * Vol. 4 -- Running After Buffalo to Ziegler
 * Index

General

 * Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives; Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
 * Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1906 Available online.
 * Klein, Barry T., ed. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Nyack, New York: Todd Publications, 2009. 10th ed. ; ; WorldCat 37475188; FHL book 970.1 R259e.
 * Malinowski, Sharon and Sheets, Anna, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1998. 4 volumes. Includes: Lists of Federally Recognized Tribes for U.S., Alaska, and Canada – pp. 513-529 Alphabetical Listing of Tribes, with reference to volume and page in this series Map of “Historic Locations of U.S. Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Canadian Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Mexican, Hawaiian and Caribbean Native Groups” Maps of “State and Federally Recognized U.S. Indian Reservations. WorldCat 37475188; FHL book 970.1 G131g.


 * Vol. 1 -- Northeast, Southeast, Caribbean
 * Vol. 2 -- Great Basin, Southwest, Middle America
 * Vol. 3 -- Arctic, Subarctic, Great Plains, Plateau
 * Vol. 4 -- California, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands


 * Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. 20 vols., some not yet published. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978–.


 * Volume 1 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 2 -- Indians in Contemporary Society (pub. 2008) -- WorldCat 234303751
 * Volume 3 -- Environment, Origins, and Population (pub. 2006) -- WorldCat 255572371
 * Volume 4 -- History of Indian-White Relations (pub. 1988) -- WorldCat 19331914; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.4.
 * Volume 5 -- Arctic (pub. 1984) -- WorldCat 299653808; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.5.
 * Volume 6 -- Subarctic (pub. 1981) -- WorldCat 247493742; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.6.
 * Volume 7 -- Northwest Coast (pub. 1990) -- WorldCat 247493311
 * Volume 8 -- California (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 13240086; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.8.
 * Volume 9 -- Southwest (pub. 1979) -- WorldCat 26140053; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.9.
 * Volume 10 -- Southwest (pub. 1983) -- WorldCat 301504096; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.10.
 * Volume 11 -- Great Basin (pub. 1986) -- WorldCat 256516416; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.11.
 * Volume 12 -- Plateau (pub. 1998) -- WorldCat 39401371; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.12.
 * Volume 13 -- Plains, 2 vols. (pub. 2001) -- WorldCat 48209643
 * Volume 14 -- Southeast (pub. 2004) -- WorldCat 254277176
 * Volume 15 -- Northwest (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 356517503; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.15.
 * Volume 16 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 17 -- Languages (pub. 1996) -- WorldCat 43957746
 * Volume 18 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 19 -- Not yet published
 * Volume 20 -- Not yet published


 * Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.
 * Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, New York: Facts on File, 2006. 3rd ed. WorldCat 14718193; FHL book 970.1 W146e 2006.