The Blackfeet Indians are one of four Algonquian-speaking North American aboriginal groups. They were nomadic hunters and farmers who were pushed west by European settlers. They suffered from diseases like smallpox, which killed 6,000 people in 1837. They lost much of their land and were forced onto a reservation in Montana, where they faced starvation when the buffalo were almost extinct.
The Blackfeet Indians, or Piegan Blackfeet, are one of four closely related Algonquian-speaking North American aboriginal groups. The other three tribes are the Blackfoot or Siksika nation, the Northern Piegan and the Kanai. Algonquin is a North American Aboriginal language spoken by groups living in Canada, New England, the Great Lakes region, and the Rocky Mountains. It has been theorized that the Blackfeet Indians originated in the eastern United States and migrated westward at some point. They now reside in Montana, while the other three groups are now located in Alberta, Canada. All four tribes form the Confederacy of the Blackfeet.
When first encountered by European explorers in the 1650s, Blackfeet Indians were nomadic hunters who also practiced agriculture. They may have been pushed west during the colonial era because the settlers, who were encroaching on their territory, had horses and guns. The horse was probably introduced and incorporated into the Aboriginal group in the early 18th century. Blackfoot groups were known for their military prowess on the North American plains and often came into conflict with Europeans by blockading the settlers’ trappings and trading efforts.
Aboriginal groups in North America have had to contend not only with the weapons brought by the settlers, but also with diseases new to them, such as smallpox. Virgin soil outbreaks are outbreaks that affect populations that have never had prior exposure, or immunity, to a particular virus or bacteria. The new diseases that European settlers brought with them threatened all aboriginal groups in North America.
In 1837, the Blackfeet Indians suffered a major smallpox epidemic that killed 6,000 people, who made up half of the tribe at the time. The first people became ill ten days after visiting Fort McKenzie in Montana, which is the approximate incubation time, i.e. the period between exposure and the initial symptoms of the disease. Their population then fluctuated during the 19th century, from 19 to 20,000 members, mainly due to the high mortality rates of such European diseases.
Beginning in 1855, with the Treaty of the Lame Bull, the Blackfeet Indians lost much of their land and were forced onto a reservation in Montana, where they currently reside. The reserve is approximately 2,500 square miles (about 4,023 square km) in size. The Blackfeet, after signing Lame Bull, did not want to give up hunting in favor of farming for food because they found it inconceivable that the American buffalo, their main source of food, would disappear.
When the buffalo came close to extermination in the 1880s, the Blackfeet Indians faced starvation. Their last buffalo hunt occurred in 1884. Approximately 600 Blackfoot starved to death during the winter of 1883-1884, and the tribe was forced to accept rations from the US government.
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