Blackfoot History Timeline

(Precontact–Present)

Blackfoot History examines the enduring story of the Siksikaitsitapi, including their societies, homelands, relationships with bison, encounters with colonial powers, treaties, and continuing cultural revitalization. More Less

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Origins and Traditional Life

Adoption of horses

1700 - 1750

The Blackfoot adopted horses from other Plains peoples, probably by the early eighteenth century. Horses expanded their range and mobility and improved their effectiveness in hunting.

Image source: Blackfoot Confederacy

Sarcee migration onto the Plains

1700 - 1750

The Sarcee, an offshoot of the Beaver people, migrated south onto the Plains sometime in the early eighteenth century.

Acquisition of firearms and horses

1725 - 1750

In the first half of the eighteenth century, the Blackfoot acquired horses and firearms through white traders and Cree and Assiniboine intermediaries.

Blackfoot and neighboring peoples adopt horses

1730

By about 1730, the Blackfoot and neighboring groups had adapted to using horses, making an adequate supply of animals important to survival and competition on the Plains.

Maximilian and Bodmer study Niitsitapi culture

1833

German explorer Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied and Swiss painter Karl Bodmer spent months with the Niitsitapi in 1833 documenting their culture.

Buffalo herds become concentrated on Blackfoot lands

1850

By 1850, buffalo herds were found almost exclusively on Blackfoot territory, intensifying competition over access to the animals.

Image source: American bison

Territorial Expansion and Conflict

Anthony Henday meets the Blackfoot

1754

Hudson's Bay Company explorer Anthony Henday met a large Blackfoot group in what is now Alberta in 1754.

Image source: Anthony Henday

Blackfoot territory described by Thompson

1787

David Thompson reported that in 1787 Blackfoot territory extended from the North Saskatchewan River south to the Missouri River, and from the Rocky Mountains eastward about 300 miles.

Blackfoot conquest of Shoshone territory

1787

David Thompson reported that the Blackfoot had conquered most of the Shoshone territory by 1787 and had forcibly assimilated some captured Shoshone women and children.

Blackfoot-Gros Ventre alliance

1793 - 1861

The Gros Ventre were allied with the Blackfoot Confederacy from about 1793 to 1861, before disagreements turned the former allies into enemies.

Gros Ventre attack South Branch House

1793

In retaliation for Hudson's Bay Company weapons supplies to their enemies, the Gros Ventre attacked and burned South Branch House near present-day St. Louis, Saskatchewan.

Blackfoot-Cree competition intensifies

1800 - 1850

After driving the Shoshone and Arapaho from the Northwestern Plains, the Niitsitapi entered a long period of intense competition with their former Cree allies in the fur trade, often involving military conflict.

Blackfoot dealings with fur traders

1800 - 1806

Before encountering the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the Blackfoot had established dealings with traders connected to the Canadian and English fur trade.

Encounter on the Jefferson River

1809

In 1809, John Colter and a companion were trapping by canoe on the Jefferson River when hundreds of Blackfoot warriors on horseback surrounded them on both banks.

Image source: John Colter

American Fur Company enters Upper Missouri

1822

The American Fur Company entered the Upper Missouri region from the south in 1822 without permission from the Niitsitapi, creating tensions and conflict.

Image source: American Fur Company

Peaceful trade established with American traders

1830

Tensions between the Niitsitapi and the American Fur Company continued until peaceful trade was established in 1830.

Fort Piegan opens

1831

Fort Piegan opened in 1831 as the first American trading post in Niitsitapi territory.

Bow Fort is established

1832

The Hudson's Bay Company responded to American trading posts by building Bow Fort, also called Peigan Post, on the Bow River in 1832, though it was unsuccessful.

Fort MacKenzie opens

1833

Fort MacKenzie joined Fort Piegan in 1833 as an American trading post serving the fur trade in Niitsitapi territory.

Smallpox reaches the Blackfoot

1837

In 1837, passengers on the American Fur Company steamboat St. Peter's contracted smallpox while traveling toward Fort Union, contributing to a devastating epidemic among the Blackfoot.

Buffalo Wars pressure Blackfoot territory

1850 - 1870

During the Buffalo Wars, Nehiyaw-Pwat bands increasingly entered Niitsitapi territory in search of bison. The Piegan gave way near the Missouri River, the Kainai withdrew toward the Bow and Belly rivers, and the Siksika retained lands along the Red Deer River.

Owl Child steals Malcolm Clarke's horses

1867

Events leading to the Marias Massacre were catalyzed in 1867 when Owl Child, a young Piegan warrior, stole a herd of horses from American trader Malcolm Clarke.

Owl Child's associates kill Malcolm Clarke

1869

In 1869, Owl Child and associates killed Malcolm Clarke at his ranch after dinner and severely wounded his son Horace, escalating conflict between the Blackfoot and American settlers.

Nehiyaw-Pwat final war effort

1870

In 1870, various Nehiyaw-Pwat bands began a final effort to seize buffalo from the Blackfoot, beginning another war over access to the herds.

Blackfoot-Gros Ventre alliance collapses

1870

Around 1870, the alliance between the Blackfoot and Gros Ventre ended. The Gros Ventre then sought protection from their former enemies, the Southern Assiniboine.

Marias Massacre

Jan 23, 1870

On January 23, 1870, U.S. Army cavalry attacked a Piegan camp that scouts had mistakenly identified as hostile. The Marias Massacre nearly destroyed a friendly Blackfoot band.

Treaties and Forced Settlement

Fort Laramie Treaty restricts U.S. Blackfoot lands

1851

In the United States, the Blackfoot were restricted to land assigned under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851.

Image source: Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

Lame Bull peace treaty

1855

Blackfoot chief Lame Bull made a peace treaty with the United States government in 1855.

Blackfoot become dependent on government supplies

1860

By 1860, very few buffalo remained, leaving the Niitsitapi completely dependent on government supplies.

Treaty 7 is signed

1877

In 1877, the Canadian Niitsitapi signed Treaty 7 and settled on reserves in southern Alberta.

Bison near extirpation forces adaptation

1881

The near extirpation of the bison by 1881 forced the Niitsitapi to adapt their traditional hunting-based way of life to the encroachment of European settlers and their descendants.

Starvation Winter

1883 - 1884

The winter of 1883–1884 became known as Starvation Winter because government supplies failed to arrive after the buffalo had disappeared.

Sweetgrass Hills Treaty creates a reservation

1887

Nearly three decades after the Fort Laramie Treaty, the Sweetgrass Hills Treaty of 1887 gave the U.S. Blackfoot a distinct reservation.

Image source: Blackfeet Nation

Traditional religions are outlawed

1890 - 1934

The Sun Dance was illegal from the 1890s through 1934 as part of efforts to assimilate Native Americans into European-American society.

Image source: Sun Dance

Blackfoot sell land to the United States

1896

In 1896, the Blackfoot sold a large portion of their land to the United States government, which hoped to find gold or copper deposits.

U.S. government dismantles tribal governments

1898

In 1898, the U.S. government dismantled tribal governments and outlawed traditional Indian religions as part of an assimilation policy.

Allotment policy is adopted

1907

In 1907, the United States adopted allotment of reservation land to individual heads of families, intending to promote family farming and break up communal tribal lands.

Image source: Dawes Act

Glacier National Park land is set aside

1910

In 1910, land connected to the former Blackfoot territory was set aside as Glacier National Park.

Image source: Glacier National Park (U.S.)

Drought damages Blackfoot communities

1919

A drought in 1919 destroyed crops and increased the cost of beef, worsening economic hardship for Blackfoot communities.

Indian Reorganization Act ends allotments

1934

The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ended allotments and allowed tribes to choose their own governments.

Modern Cultural Renewal

Frances Densmore records Blackfoot language

1900 - 1930

In the early twentieth century, white ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore helped the Blackfoot record their language.

Tintin in America features Blackfoot people

1932

Hergé's 1932 work Tintin in America featured Blackfoot people, bringing a fictionalized representation of them into popular culture.

Image source: Tintin in America

Sun Dance resumes

1934

After the prohibition ended in 1934, the Blackfoot resumed practicing the Sun Dance every summer, restoring an important traditional religious ceremony.

Blackfeet Nation forms Tribal Business Council

1935

In 1935, the Blackfeet Nation of Montana began a Tribal Business Council under the new federal policy supporting tribal self-government.

Blackfoot Writing Company opens

1972 - 1990

The Blackfoot Writing Company, a pen and pencil factory, opened in 1972 and operated until it closed in the late 1990s.

Blackfoot Community College opens

1974

Blackfoot Community College, a tribal college in Browning, Montana, opened in 1974.

Montana requires American Indian studies

1979

Beginning in 1979, Montana required public school teachers on or near the reservation to have a background in American Indian studies.

Red Crow Community College opens

1986

The Kainai Nation opened Red Crow Community College in Stand Off, Alberta, in 1986.

Siksika completes a high school

1989

In 1989, the Siksika tribe in Canada completed construction of a high school alongside its elementary school.

Pikuni becomes official language

1994

In 1994, the Blackfoot Council accepted Pikuni as the official language.

Jimmy P. depicts a Blackfoot patient

2013

The 2013 Franco-American film Jimmy P. explores the psychoanalysis of Jimmy Picard, a Blackfoot veteran treated after World War II by ethnologist and psychoanalyst George Devereux.