Blackfeet vs. Blackfoot Indian?

Question

I am trying to get verified as a descent of a Native American, and my grandmother says we are of Blackfoot descent. Now is there a difference between Blackfoot and Blackfeet tribes? Only Blackfeet is federally recognized but both are in the same Idaho-Wyoming-Montana area.

Answer 1

The are indeed one in the same....The Blackfoot Confederacy is the name given to four Native American tribes in the Northwestern Plains, which include the North Peigan the South Peigan, the Blood, and the Siksika tribes. In the beginning they occupied a large territory stretching from the North Saskatchewan River in Canada to the Missouri River in Montana.
During the early part of the 1800's, the Blackfoot had an estimated population of approximately 20,000 people. However, the diseases brought on by the white settlers, including small pox and measles, along with starvation and war reduced their number to less than 5,000 by the turn of the century. In the face of these adversities, the Blackfoot have not lost their culture or their language. Today, there are approximately 25,000 Blackfoot members. The Piegan Blackfeet are located on the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana near Browning. The other three tribes are primarily located in Alberta, Canada.

Blackfeet Nation
P.O. Box 850
Browning, Montana 59417
406-338-7521/7522

Where a lot of people get mixed up is that tribes in the Southeastern part of the United States referred to 2 particular tribes as blackfeet because of the way they cleared land using the slash and burn method, then after they walked through this cleared land their feet were black. When people refer to the Blackfeet of Virginia they are actually talking about the Saponi and the Tutelo. This has confused a lot of people doing research into their Native ancestry...

If you are looking for help in tracing Native Ancestry you might try this group...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Native_American_Genealogy

Good luck

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Blackfeet vs. Blackfoot Indian?
I am trying to get verified as a descent of a Native American, and my grandmother says we are of Blackfoot descent. Now is there a difference between Blackfoot and Blackfeet tribes? Only Blackfeet is federally recognized but both are in the same Idaho-Wyoming-Montana area.

Answer 3

Blackfeet Or Blackfoot

Answer 4

Im from the BlackfEET rez in Montana myself and we never say BlackfOOT unless we are speaking about the BlackFoot Confederacy wich includes all the tribes in Canada and ours in Montana. Out Rez is the same people but two tribes Siksika or BLACKFEET and Amskapi Pikuni or SOUTHERN PIEGAN the Canadian Tribes are the Pikuni or PIEGAN and the KIANAH or BLOOD all have the same culture and traditions but are separated by the American Canadian Border with we as a Nation dont recognize as we were there before the border was. So all the Tribes in the Blackfoot Confederacy are NOT BLACKFOOT, We are BLACKFEET, SIKSIKA,or(BLACKFEET AMSKAPI PIKUNI or(SOUTHERN PIEGAN),KIANAHor(BLOOD and PIKUNI or (PIEGAN). When you enter the reservation borders all our signs say welcome to the BLACKFEET Reservation not BLACKFOOT.

Answer 5

Doing a Google search on 'Blackfeet blackfoot indian' comes up with a lot of sources that come up with both as alternatives.
http://www.native-languages.org/blackfoot.htm
Now you just need to find a source you and the government consider authorative.

Answer 6

I can't say for all tribes, I have no clue who else might have a smilier name... However...

Two I know of...

There the Blackfoot Nation, that you mention. (I think people tend to go back and forth between foot and feet with that one.)

But there is also a Blackfeet tribe within the "Sioux" Nation. (Not related to the Blackfoot Nation)

Answer 7

Many people who claim "Blackfoot" cannot trace themselves to the Montana area or into Canada. Unless you can do this, it is unlikely that you are "Blackfoot/feet." The term "Blackfoot" (not feet) has been adopted by (self-presumed)descendants of NDNs east of the Mississippi who now call them selves Saponi and has also been used to describe people who are of mixed Black and NDN heritage but this does not link either group to the Blackfeet of Montana or Blackfoot of Canada or Blackfoot Band of Sioux.

Answer 8

I believe they are the same , it's just that some people try to pluralize the word "Blackfoot" and make it like this... one, Blackfoot Indian, more than One, Blackfoot Indian hence "Blackfeet" silly isn't it?

Answer 9

I think they are the same. I am also part Blackfeet but I don't enough about it to look it up.

Answer 10

blackfoot is good