Blackfoot Indians

According to the Edinburgh Encyclopedia of 1832, the Blackfoot Confederacy was made up of five tribes. They were the Hidatsa including the Crow (they are also known as Gros Ventre), Peigans, Blood, Blackfoot, and Sarcee who are known as the Tsuu T'ina. Their land was located west of Lake Winnepeg. Before the white invader commenced building forts in the Alberta and Northwest Territories region in the late 18th century, the Blackfoot Confederacy was subjugated by the Chippewyan or Chippewa's. In the same Edinburgh Encyclopedia, the Chipewyan were listed as being Lene Lenape, or Algonquian. In fact, the Beaver, Dog Rib, and Hare Indians were also listed as being Chipewyan. From south and north of Lake Winnepeg, the Chipewyan (Cree according the the Edinburgh Encyclopedia) and their Assiniboine (the Assiniboine were listed as being Iroquois as were all Dakota people) allies, forced the Blackfoot Confederacy to retreat west to the Rocky Mountains near where Fort Augustus was eventually constructed in 1795. Edmonton, Alberta is 15 miles to the southwest of Fort Augustus which is now known as Fort Saskatchewan.

In the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, the Tsuu T'ina were classified as Chipewyan, or spoke the Chipewyan language. Among them were their Chippewa subjugators. They controlled the Blackfoot Confederacy before the white invaders commenced to building forts from the Northwest Territories to Alberta. The Edinburgh Encyclopedia also stated that the Gwich'in were Eskimo, or spoke a language almost identical to Eskimo. Since Fort Augustus was 440 miles south of the Northwest Territories, a relationship between the Eskimo and the Blackfoot Confederacy, is certain, or the people of the Blackfoot Confederacy were possibly partly Eskimo. Just how great their percentage of the population of the Blackfoot Confederacy was, has been lost. We know the Chippewa's were living as far north as the Mackenzie River Delta which is a few miles south of the Beaufort Sea, before the 1770s. They at first subjugated the foreign Asian invaders. It may have been the whites who brought the Eskimo to far northern Alaska, far northern Canada, and Greenland. Commencing in the 1770s, the white invaders increased the amount of weapons they supplied to the Eskimo. They had a reason for bringing the Asians to northern Canada. To fight the Chippewa's.

North West Company

In 1774, the whites living along the eastern shores of North America, rose up in rebellion against the Chippewa's who prevented them from expanding to the west. They also invaded California around the same time (the mid 1770s). An island (Pine Island) near what is now Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, was settled by a number of white traders from the Hudson Bay Company in 1774. It was the first inland trading post or fort of HBC. It was an obvious direct violation of a treaty agreement between the Anishinabe Nation and the white confederation of Europe led by England. The post was really a fort which was really a white settlement. It garnished the attention of the Chippewa's. Chippewa leaders knew the whites were supplying the Eskimo with their weapons from near the mouth of McKenzie River. Eskimo soldiers launched military campaigns against the Chippewa's throughout the Northwest Territories including what is now Nunavut.

On July 17, 1771, a number of Chippewa soldiers found a camp of Eskimo about 3 miles southwest of what is now Kuglugtuk, Nunavut and killed 20 of the invaders. It is known as Bloody Falls Massacre. Kuglugtuk is adjacent to the Beaufort Sea. That is how far north the Chippewa's were living at that time. They were not stupid and reacted to the obvious invasion. Exactly how long the Eskimo invasion had been going on for is probably known of by certain white historians. We know the Chippewa's were fighting a war against the Eskimo in 1771. Since the Eskimo are of dark complexion, they possibly originally lived in a tropical location. These early events in the 1770s, probably led to the Anishinabe people of Ontario and Quebec, to form a line of defensive locations to station their soldiers. The North West Company was formed in Quebec in 1779, or during the Revolutionary War. Knowing that the white invaders had invaded the region around Cumberland House, was news they could not ignore.

Protection was their main concern. The Chippewa's were dealing with the white invaders from the east, west, and south. And they were dealing with an Eskimo invasion from the north. During those times (the 1770s) 100,000s of Chippewa's were living between the western shores of Hudson Bay and the Rocky Mountains to the west, in Canada. And the white invaders resorted to their cowardly acts which decimated the Indian population dramatically. By 1782, anywhere from 100,000 to over 1,000,000 Indians had been killed as a result of the cowardly acts of the whites. Their population was reduced so dramatically it led to an end to the Revolutionary War. However, the fighting continued but on a smaller scale.

With the dramatic decline in the Indian population between Hudson Bay and the Rocky Mountains in Canada, it led to increased Eskimo military campaigns against the Chippewa's. In response to the Eskimo threat, more forts were constructed. In 1786, Cuthbert Grant established what is now known as Fort Resolution in the Northwest Territories. It is located along the southern shores of Great Slave Lake. His partner Laurent Leroux established Fort Providence that same year. The Eskimo were advancing further to the south and were supplied with European weapons from near the mouth of the McKenzie River. By the early 1780s, the Eskimo were in control of the land north of Great Bear Lake.

Other forts were established in the Northwest Territories including Lac La Martre near Whati in 1789; Livingston's Fort near Jean Marie in 1796; Rocky Mountain Fort near Wrigley in 1800; Fort Norman near Tulita in 1804; Fort Simpson in 1804; Fort Alexander just south of Wrigley in 1804; Fort Liard in 1807. In 1803, the Hudson Bay Company established a fort near Fort Resoultion. That was a threat Chippewa leaders grew to frown upon. They had built a series of forts in the Northwest Territories only to see the whites invade. With an Eskimo obstruction to the north, it meant the whites could expand in that region by using the Eskimos.

In northern Alberta, the white invaders had contructed Ross' Post in 1786. In 1790, they constructed Lake Athabasca Post. From these locations they supported the Eskimos who pitched their tents near the white forts. The Eskimos were already in Alberta by 1790. By 1822, the Eskimos and whites had brought all Chippewa North West Company Forts under their control. Though very little is known about this ancient war, some historical evidence survived. At Fort Liard, a number of Eskimo soldiers killed the forts soldiers. Afterwards the fort was abandoned. This happened sometime before 1820. Hudson Bay Company took control of Fort Liard in 1822, after the fort was re-established by the Chippewa's. Sometime during the 1790s or even earlier, some Eskimos reached northern Montana and northern North Dakota. They were supplied with weapons from the white forts in eastern Saskatchewan, particularly Cumberland House. Hudson Bay Company used the Churchill River to bring supplies to Saskatchewan.

Chippewa leaders knew what was going on and stationed their soldiers throughout the supply line. They destroyed South Branch House near what is now St. Louis, Saskatchewan, in 1794. A year earlier, they destroyed the Hudson Bay Company's Manchester Post near what is now Edam, Saskatchewan and Pine Island Post which was a North West Company post. However, it may have been Cumberland House. The Indian Tribe the whites call Sioux, may be the Eskimos.

When you read information about the Blackfeet fighting other Algonquin's, it's wise to ignore it. The Algonquin's would not fight among themselves as a result of the Seven Fires Prophecy. The Blackfeet Indians who fought other Algonquin's are the Eskimos. Chippewa soldiers subjugated many if not most of them. Those who avoided Chippewa subjugation confined themselves to near white forts. They were used by the whites then knifed in the back. They make up a large percentage of the Indian population of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. And their descendants are among the Algonquin's of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota, who absorbed them.

An interesting note about the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, is the mention of the Rocky Mountain Indians and Strongbow Indians and their belief they originally came from the west. They are Beaver Indians according to the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. They listed them as being Chipewyan or Lene Lenape Chippewa. Both claimed they originally came from a level country to the west which had no winters. They claimed an animal of small stature lived in that land which had human facial characteristics. Their land was flooded out and it forced them to migrate north along the sea shore. They then came to a narrow strait then crossed it. It then froze afterwards and prevented them from returning. Since the strait was narrow, we should assume they did not have problems going back by walking. You might get the impression they were from Asia. We first have to suggest a southerly location in North America. Either California or Mexico. We know a large island was situated a few miles west of California. It has since disappeared under the sea.

Both remembered while living far to the south, a man who visited them who healed the sick and raised the dead. Christianity was certainly not popular in eastern Asia during those times. We know the Chippewa's had the bible among them and knew about Christianity long before the whites invaded in 1492. Read William W. Warrens book "History of the Ojibway People." Though the Edinburgh Encyclopedia stated that the Beaver and Chipewyan were the same people, it also stated that the story of the Beaver Indians was not known among the Chipewyan. That's because the Chipewyan originally lived where the Delaware or Leni Lenape lived, or in the Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania region. They were instructed to force their way up to the southern shores of Hudson Bay. That probably happened in the 17th century. From there, they forced their way up to what is now the Northwest Territories including Nunavut, and joined the Beaver Indians in the war against the foreign Asian invaders and the white invaders.

Today, the Blackfoot Confederacy is predominantly Algonquin. The Asian presence is among them but since the mid 19th century they have assimilated within Chipewyan or Chippewa society. The Tsuu T'ina were confined to a POW camp near Calgary. It was a military camp between 1910 and 1996. Since those years, the Chippewa's have lost their nationality. The Tsuu T'ina Chippewa's no longer know who they are. They completely subjugated and assimilated the foreign Asian invaders. They were the most hostile. Thus, they were carefully watched.

The Blackfeet Reservation

The size of the Montana Blackfeet Nation is 1,462,640 acres or 2,285 sq. mi. or 5,918 sq. km.

The Population of the Montana Blackfeet Nation is 15,560 with around 10,405 living on the Reservation. Around 87% are Indian.

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape)

The Blood Reserve

The size of the Blood Reserve is 547 sq. mi. or 211 sq. km.

The Population of the Blood Reserve is 4,679.

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape)

The Piikani Reserve

The size of the Piikani Reserve is 166 sq. mi. or 430 sq. km.

The Population of the Piikani Reserve is 1,217

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape)

The Siksika Reserve

The size of the Siksika Reserve is 268 sq. mi. or 696 sq. km.

The Population of the Siksika Reserve is 2,972.

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape)

The Tsuu T'ina Reserve

The size of the Siksika Reserve is 109 sq. mi. or 283 sq. km.

The Population of the Tsuu T'ina Reserve is 1,777.

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape)

The Fort Belknap Reservation

The size of the Siksika Reserve is 1,014 sq. mi. or 2,626 sq. km.

The Population of the Fort Belknap Reservation is 2,851.

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape) and Dakota

The Crow Reservation

The size of the Crow Reservation is 3,593 sq. mi. or 9,307 sq. km.

The Population of the Crow Reservation is over 3,000.

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape)

The Fort Berthold Reservation

The size of the Fort Berthold Reservation is 1,543 sq. mi. or 3,998 sq. km.

The Population of the Fort Berthold Reservation is 3,776.

Language is Chipewyan or Chippewa (Niitsitapi or Leni Lenape), Dakota, and Caddo