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Submitted by: Erik Hambrick
Northwest Montana is home to about 7,500 members of the more than 15,000 members of the Blackfeet Native American Nation. These registered members can also be found throughout Alberta, Canada as well.
The Blackfeet Confederacy is comprised of four Native American Tribes, including the Siksika tribe, the Akainawa tribe, also known as the Bloods or Kainai, the Peigan Nation, also known as the Niitsitapi or Ahpikuni Nation, and the Southern Ahpikuni, also called the Montana Blackfeet. The members who live in Montana are found east of Glacier National Park on a reservation that spans 1.5 million acres. The largest tribe community is in Browning, Montana. Other communities include East Glacier, Babb, St. Mary, Starr School, Seville, and Heart Butte.
Known as a domestic sovereign Indian nation, the Blackfeet Native Americans are governed by the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. The council maintains its headquarters in Browning, Montana. There are nine members, with the chairman serving as Chief Executive Officer and others holding staggered four-year terms. Elections for the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council are held every two years. The United States Federal Government recognizes the Blackfeet Native American Nation as a nation within a nation with the help of established treaties, laws, executive orders, and agreements.
The Blackfeet Native Americans migrated to the territories of Canada and Montana from the northern Great Lakes area. These Native Americans were nomadic buffalo hunters and roamed the land moving from place to place, never staying permanently in one location. They used tipis for shelter and traded buffalo hides, guns, and horses with the settlers in the area. St. Mary Lodge & Resort, located in St. Mary, Montana, allows guests to experience what its like to stay in a tipi, just like the Blackfeet Native Americans. This premiere Montana resort boasts tipis that stand 27 feet tall. Each tipi has 700 square feet of living space includes a bed, dresser, table and chairs, and a private bathhouse.
As with most Native American nations, the Blackfeet Nation experienced disease and war as they became exposed to the white settlers who were moving into territory out west. In the 1860s-1870s, the Blackfeet suffered deaths because of smallpox and measles. On January 23, 1870, Blackfeet Native Americans suffered a great loss when United States troops invaded their land. The Marias Massacre resulted in the death of about 200 Piegan Native Americans, most of which were women and children. The extinction of the buffalo in the mid 1880s led to the starvation and death of many Blackfeet members.
Today, the members of the Blackfeet Native American Nation work and contribute to society. Farming and ranching are common on the reservation land, with main crops of barley, hay, and wheat. There is also a manufacturing plant that produces markers, pens, and pencils.
Those who are looking to learn more information about the Blackfeet Nation can visit several points of interest, including the Museum of the Plains Indians in Browning, Montana or the Mountain Chief Trading Post in St. Mary, Montana. While in St. Mary, visitors can book their stay in a modern-day tipi similar to those of the Blackfeet Native American Nation at the St. Mary Lodge & Resort.
Reservations at this Montana lodge can be book online at http://www.stmarylodgeandresort.com/reservations.php or by calling 1-888-778-6279.
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