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Encyclopedia > Blackfoot mythology

The Blackfoot are a tribe of Native Americans who currently live in Montana. They lived west of the Great Lakes and lived in Montana and Alberta and participated in Plains Indian culture. Crowfoot, former Head Chief of the Blackfeet Nation The Piegan Blackfeet, (Pikuni in Blackfoot) are a tribe of Blackfoot Native Americans based in Montana. ... An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and their descendants in... Official language(s) English Capital Helena Largest city Billings Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 4th 381,156 km² 410 km 1,015 km 1 44°26 N to 49° N 104°2 W to 116°2 W Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 44th 902,195 2. ... The Great Lakes from space The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border. ... Motto: Fortis et Liber (Latin: Strong and free) Official languages English Capital Edmonton Largest city Calgary Lieutenant-Governor Norman Kwong Premier Ralph Klein (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 28 6 Area Total  â€¢ Land  â€¢ Water    (% of total)  Ranked 6th 661,848 km² 642,317 km² 19,531 km² (2. ...

Contents


Cosmology

In Blackfoot mythology there is also a supernatural world, dominated above the natural world by the sun, and below by the beaver. The sun is sometimes personified by the part human Napi, or Old Man. The area in which the Blackfoot lived was created by Old Man exploring the area on his way north. (Nettl, 1989)


The numbers four, the cardinal directs, and seven, the six principle points and center, are important in Blackfoot mythology. Communication occurs between the supernatural world and Blackfoot through visions of guardian spirits, during which useful songs and ceremonies may be imparted, such as that of medicine bundles. Ceremonies include the Sun Dance, called Medicine Lodge by the Blackfoot in English. Napi also gave the Blackfoot visions, and by implication Blackfoot music: "Now, if you are overcome, you may go and sleep, and get power. Something will come to you in your dream, that will help you. Whatever these animals tell you to do, you must obey them....Whatever animal answers your prayer, you must listen to him." (Nettl, 1989) Blackfoot music (best translated in the Blackfoot language as nitsínixki - I sing, from nínixksini - song) is primarily a vocal kind of music, using few instruments (called ninixkiátsis, derived from the word for song and associated primarily with European-American instruments), only percussion and voice, and few words. ...


Misc

Apikunni is the inventor of tobacco and made the first war-time killing with an aspen stick. Species N. glauca N. longiflora N. rustica N. sylvestris N. tabacum Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005 Tobacco (, L.) refers to a genus of broad-leafed plants of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America, or to the dried and cured leaves of such plants. ... Species Populus adenopoda Populus alba Populus grandidentata Populus sieboldii Populus tremula Populus tremuloides Aspens are trees of the willow family and comprise a section of the poplar genus Populus sect. ...


The Sta-au are a type of ghost, specifically the ghost of cruel men and women. Most deceased lived in the certain part of the hills, but the Sta-au would hang around camps. They caused bad luck and harm to living people, especially near sunset and after dark.


The Buffalo Dance

One of the primary sources of food and other needs was the American Bison. The typical hunting method was drive a herd off a cliff and butcher them after they died at the bottom of the cliff. Similar methods were used in ancient Europe. Binomial name Bison bison Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies B. b. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ...


The night before, the shaman ceremonially smokes tobacco and prays to the sun. His wives are not allowed to leave their home, nor even look outside, until he returns; they were to pray to the sun and continually burn sweet grass. Fasting and dressed in a bison headdress, the shaman led a group of people at the head of a V formation. He attracted the herd's attention and brought them near the cliff; they were then scared by other men hiding behind them, who waved their robes and shouted. The bison ran off the cliff and died at the rocks below. The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means... Species N. glauca N. longiflora N. rustica N. sylvestris N. tabacum Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005 Tobacco (, L.) refers to a genus of broad-leafed plants of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America, or to the dried and cured leaves of such plants. ... The Sun is the star at the center of our Solar system. ...


According to legend, at one point the bison refused to go over the cliff. A woman walking underneath the cliff saw a herd right on the edge and pledged to marry one which jumped down. One did so and survived, turning into many dead buffalo at the bottom of the cliff. The woman's people ate the meat and the young woman left with the buffalo. Her father went in search of her. When he stopped to rest, he told a magpie to search for his daughter and tell her where he was. The magpie found the woman and told her where her father was located. The woman met her father but refused to go home, frightened that the bison would kill her and her father; she said to wait until they were all asleep and would not miss her for some time. When she returned to the bison, her husband smelled another person and, gathering his herd, found the father and trampled him to death. The woman cried and her husband said that if she could bring her father back to life, they could both return to their tribe. The woman asked the magpie to find a piece of her father's body; he found a piece of his spine. The woman covered the bone with her robe and sang a song. She was successful and her father was reincarnated. Impressed, the woman's husband taught them a dance which would attract the bison and ensure success in the hunt and which would restore the dead bison to life, just as the woman had restored her father to life. The father and daughter returned to their tribe and taught a small group of men, eventually known as I-kun-uh'-kah-tsi ("all compatriots"), the dances. Genera Pica Urocissa Cyanopica Cissa See also the article European Magpie. ...


The Blackfoot also dance the Grass Dance, which they absorbed from the Assiniboin in the 1890s. (Nettl, 1989, p.106) The Assiniboine, also known as the Assnipwan or sometimes the Stone Sioux, are a Native American people, originally from the Northern Great Plains area of North America, specifically in present-day Montana and parts of Canada around the US/Canadian border. ...


Source

  • Nettl, Bruno (1989). Blackfoot Musical Thought: Comparative Perspectives. Ohio: The Kent State University Press. ISBN 0873383702

  Results from FactBites:
 
Other Mythology Encyclopaedia (10254 words)
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Encyclopedia: Blackfoot mythology (419 words)
The Blackfoot are a tribe of Native Americans who currently live in Montana.
In Blackfoot mythology there is also a supernatural world, dominated above the natural world by the sun, and below by the beaver.
Communication occurs between the supernatural world and Blackfoot through visions of guardian spirits, during which useful songs and ceremonies may be imparted, such as that of medicine bundles.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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