IN his memory.

During Black history month the First Nation's people are excluded. Pity. The two interlocked. 

Chief Owl of the Blackfoot nation, circa, 1886

photographed by the Canadian photographer, Alex Ross.

During the 1880s, Canadian Alex Ross photographed many of the First Nations people who lived around Calgary. In particular, Ross documented many of the men, women and families of the Blackfoot—mainly of the Siksiká Nation—and the Tsuu T’ina—or as they were originally called, Sarcee. 

Medicine HAT

How Medicine-Hat Got Its Name 

- a Blackfoot story

Once there was a man named Spider whose wife ran away with a man named Eagle-Bull. The woman's name was Badger-Woman. Eagle-Bull took the woman to a place on Elk River. They went down this river to a place where there was a bend in the channel, and on one side was a cut bank with a projecting point. Near by they made a shelter of logs. After a while the man told the woman that he was going to dig a pit for an eagle-trap: so he went up on the point. When he came back, he told her that he had finished the hole for the pit. Then he took some meat from the neck of an animal and went up to the trap. Then he fixed everything, put the meat on top, and went down into the trap. 

Now there were a great many eagles about, but every time one was about to alight on the trap, there was a sound as if some people were riding around, and at once the eagles would fly up. When the man came back home, he told the woman that he had had no luck, because someone made the eagles fly away when they were about to alight. 

The next day he tried again, but the same thing happened. Then he prayed to this mysterious presence, asking it to take pity on him and to permit him to catch some eagles promising that he would give it some of the feathers. Then he went down to another place to make a trap; and when he was in this trap he heard someone singing in the old trap. Looking in that direction, he saw a medicine head-dress sticking up. He could just see it. The song that he heard was, "I have power to call eagles to this place," etc. 

Now, while this was going on, the man heard 2 eagles alight near his trap, but someone scared them up as before. He stayed in the trap a long time, but, not having had any luck, he went to sleep. Now in his sleep he dreamed he heard some one say, "If you kill your wife and use her for bait, it will be better." 

When he awoke he thought to himself, "Well, I suppose I may as well do it, for I want to catch eagles." 

So he went home to his camp; but the woman came out to meet him, and her manner changed his mind. He thought to himself, "Now I ran away with her, and I do not like to do this." He had a little bob-tailed dog, so he determined to use it for bait. He killed it, and carried some of the meat to the trap again. Now, while he was waiting, the dream-person spoke to him again, telling him that he did not eat dog-meat, and asked again for his wife. 

Now, when the man went home, he made up his mind to get sight of this mysterious person. So when he awoke in the morning he got up, went out at once and looked around. He saw many birds, some perched and others walking around. By watching them, he discovered that it was a raven that had spoken to him. This raven became a person. It was a woman, and she wore the head-dress he had seen sticking from the trap. Now this woman appeared before him and said, "I have been trying to help you. My man here wants a woman to eat." 

Now Eagle Bull was very much discouraged. He did not know what to do about it. So he passed by the camp and down over the ridge, looking for buffalo. Once when he turned back, he saw an Assiniboine. He approached him, and finally they met. The Assiniboine was nearly starved. He had been looking for buffalo, but failed to find any. Eagle-Bull pretended to take pity on him, and invited him to his camp, saying, "I have plenty of meat. I can feed you." 

The Assiniboine said, "All right, but first I must get a drink." 

So they went to the water, and when the Assiniboine stooped down to drink, Eagle-Bull knocked him on the head with a stone and killed him. Then he butchered him. When he came home, he said to his wife, "Now I have some bait for the trap." 

When he went out again to the trap, he put 1/2 of the bait on the old trap, saying, as he did so, "Here is human flesh for bait." 

Then he went into the other trap and placed bait upon it. The eagles flew down. Finally the pit was full of birds. So he called his wife over and told her to take them to camp, and all day she kept taking them over. Now all this time he could hear the dream-person in the other trap singing, as if he were greatly pleased. The words of the songs were, "I am eating a person. I give you all the eagle-trap power." 

Once the dream-person said to him, "You are to trap 4 days, and then quit. Put all the eagles around your camp; but the catch of the last 2 days you are to put around in the inside of the lodge." 

Now the husband of the wife was looking for her. He knew what had happened. He followed their trail, found their camp, and watched from a distance. He had another wife, whom he told of his discovery, and promised her that he would not kill the runaways, but steal up and catch them. The runaway woman had taken a young child. This was the reason he hunted for her. So he stole quietly up to the camp and saw that they were cooking meat. He came quietly to the door and stood there looking in. 

Then he spoke, saying, "You have many eagles." 

At this, Eagle-Bull and the woman sprang up badly frightened; but he called to them, "Do not run. I shall not do you any harm. You, my wife, can have this person for your husband; but I want the child." 

Then Eagle-Bull said to him, "My friend, if you want your wife back for a time, it is all right with me. Then she can come to me again." 

" No," he replied. 

"Well," said Eagle-Bull, "you see there are a great many eagles inside and outside. Take your choice." 

The man chose those on the outside. 

"Now," said Eagle-Bull, "I will give you this power also." 

So he transferred it to him. 

He said, "You must kill a coyote and use it for bait; when so used, you must turn the head to the sun and the feet to the north. (Before this time, antelopes were used.) Before you go into the trap, you must sing my song, and, standing on the south side, call out, inviting the wolf to eat and smoke; also the ravens, the crows, the magpie, the eagle, and other birds, to come and get something to eat." 

Now when Spider did all this he caught many eagles.

Now, some time after this, Spider got power from a magpie. He fed the magpie's children, and they told him to go to that place to trap. So the next year he said to his wife, "We shall go back to the place and trap eagles and feed the magpie-children." 

So they started. The All-Comrades tried to stop him, but he told them that he was only going after some arrows. and would soon come back. As soon as he was out of sight, he went over to the place, caught many eagles, and returned to camp. 2 days after he had done this, he was caught by a man who wished to sell a medicine-pipe. The object of his selling was to find out where the man caught his eagles. 

Spider had many good horses; so he said, "There are my horses and some good travois-dogs, you can have them for the pipe." "Oh!" said the seller, "I do not want such things for the medicine-pipe. I do not want anything like that. I will just give it to you. But there are two things I want to know. I want to know where eagles are caught, and how to get them. I just want to know something about them. Don't give me all the power for eagle-catching; keep some of it for yourself. You may need it. I should like to know the place for three years." 

"Well," said Spider," you can use it four years." 

"All right," said the man. 

So when autumn came Spider showed the medicine-pipe man the place, how to catch eagles, and fixed him up. They stole out of camp so that no one would follow them. "Now," said he, "you must feed the magpie-children. They are the ones that helped me. If they are gone, you must put food for them anyway. In the winter you must put food in the brush to feed their children." 

Now the ridge where this happened is called "Praying for Medicine" (si'kapls'tan!).

Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History, Vol. II, 1908.

from Archives of Blue Panther

Piqued Buffalo Wife, a Blackfoot story

ONCE a young man went out and came to a buffalo-cow fast in the mire. He

took advantage of her situation. After a time she gave birth to a boy. When
he could run about, this boy would go into the Indian camps and join in the
games of the children, but would always mysteriously disappear in the
evening. One day this boy told his mother that he intended to search among
the camps for his father. Not long after this he was playing with the
children in the camps as usual, and went into the lodge of a head man in
company with a boy of the family. He told this head man that his father
lived somewhere in the camp, and that he was anxious to find him. The head
man took pity on the boy, and sent out a messenger to call into his lodge
all the old men in the camp.

When these were all assembled and standing around the lodge, the head man
requested the boy to pick out his father. The boy looked them over, and then
told the head man that his father was not among them. Then the head man sent
out a messenger to call in all the men next in age; but, when these were
assembled, the boy said that his father was not among them. Again the head
man sent out the messenger to call in all the men of the next rank in age.
When they were assembled, the boy looked them over as before, and announced
that his father was not among them. So once again the head man sent out his
messenger to call in all the young unmarried men of the camp. As they were
coming into the head man's lodge, the boy ran to one of them, and, embracing
his, said, "Here is my father." After a time the boy told his father that he
wished to take him to see his mother. The boy said, "When we come near her,
she will run at you and hook four times, but you are to stand perfectly
still." The next day the boy and his father started out on their journey. As
they were going along they saw a buffalo-cow, which immediately ran at them
as the boy had predicted. The man stood perfectly still, and at the fourth
time, as the cow was running forward to hook at him, she became a woman.
Then she went home with her husband and child. One day shortly after their
return, she warned her husband that whatever he might do he must never
strike at her with fire. They lived together happily for many years. She was
a remarkably good woman. One evening when the husband had invited some
guests, and the woman expressed a dislike to prepare food for them, he
became very angry, and, catching up a stick from the fire, struck at her. As
he did so, the woman and her child vanished, and the people saw a buffalo
cow and calf running from the camp.

Now the husband was very sorry and mourned for his wife and child. After a
time he went out to search for them. In order that he might approach the
buffalo without being discovered, he rubbed himself with filth from a
buffalo-wallow. In the course of time he came to a place where some buffalo
were dancing. He could hear them from a distance. As he was approaching, he
met his son, who was now, as before, a buffalo-calf. The father explained to
the boy that he was mourning for him and his mother and that he had come to
take them home. The calf-boy explained that this would be very difficult,
for his father would be required to pass through an ordeal. The calf-boy
explained to him that, when he arrived among the buffalo and inquired for
his wife and son, the chief of the buffalo would order that he select his
child from among all the buffalo-calves in the herd. Now the calf-boy wished
to assist his father, and told him that he would know his child by a sign,
because, when the calves appeared before him, his own child would hold up
its tail. Then the man proceeded until he came to the place where the
buffalo were dancing. Immediately he was taken before the chief of the
buffalo-herd. The chief required that he first prove his relationship to the
child by picking him out from among all the other calves of the herd. The
man agreed to this and the calves were brought up. He readily picked out his
own child by the sign.

The chief of the buffalo, however, was not satisfied with this proof, and
said that the father could not have the child until he identified him four
times. While the preparations were being made for another test, the calf-boy
came to his father and explained that he would be known this time by closing
one eye. When the time arrived, the calves were brought as before, and the
chief of the buffalo directed the father to identify his child, which he did
by the sign. Before the next trial the calf-boy explained to his father that
the sign would be one ear hanging down. Accordingly, when the calves were
brought up for the father to choose, he again identified his child. Now,
before the last trial, the boy came again to his father and notified him
that the sign by which he was to be known was dancing and holding up one
leg. Now the calf-boy had a chum among the buffalo-calves, and when the
calves were called up before the chief so that the father might select his
child, the chum saw the calf-boy beginning to dance holding up one leg, and
he thought to himself, "He is doing some fancy dancing." So he, also, danced
in the same way. Now the father observed that there were two calves giving
the sign, and realized that he must make a guess. He did so, but the guess
was wrong. Immediately the herd rushed upon the man and trampled him into
the dust. Then they all ran away except the calf-boy, his mother, and an old
bull.

These three mourned together for the fate of the unfortunate man. After a
time the old bull requested that they examine the ground to see if they
could find a piece of bone. After long and careful search they succeeded in
finding one small piece that had not been trampled by the buffalo. The bull
took this piece, made a sweat-house, and finally restored the man to life.

When the man was restored, the bull explained to him that he and his family
would receive some power, some head-dresses, some songs, and some crooked
sticks, such as he had seen the buffalo carry in the dance at the time when
he attempted to pick out his son.

The calf-boy and his mother then became human beings, and returned with the
man. It was this man who started the Bull and the Horn Societies, and it was
his wife who started the Matoki.


(BLACKFOOT: Wissler and Duvall, Anthropological Papers of the American
Museum of Natural History, ii, 117, No. 28)

archives of BLUE PANTHER

BLACKFOOT VALUES & WAY OF LIFE part 3

The third step to effective learning is participation or, as the common expression has it, “learning by doing.” Traditionally, elders from many plains tribes insist that children must learn their culture by accessing traditional forms of education on the land. A sense of connectedness to the natural world, as well as to people in it, is developed through extended experiences on the land, either in the company of an elder or alone. When a youth is given the privilege of participating in a specific ceremony it is always under the supervision of a responsible individual. Participating in a sacred ritual or ceremony requires use of all five senses, encompassed in an attitude of spirituality.

This, in Siksika terms, implies adding a sixth sense—spiritual awareness. Participating in a sweat-lodge ceremony, for example, will itself verify the readiness of the participant. If the lodge is entered with negative thoughts, the individual might afterwards experience uneasiness or even illness. If on entering the lodge participants have the right attitude, they will feel spiritually refreshed after participating in the ceremony. ~ Tiger Lilli Sakima

 

BLACKFOOT VALUES & WAY OF LIFE by Tiger Lilli Sakima part 2

building relationship

The second step of the Siksika teaching/learning scenario occurs when an elder considered a youthful listener ready to observe the practice of a certain cultural custom or important sacred ceremony or ritual. When deemed ready, an elder might invite a youth to observe the proceedings. An observer of a Sundance, for example, has to follow a strict protocol and learn to respect the various attending requirements. ~ Tiger Lily Sakima

BLACKFOOT VALUES & WAYS OF LIFE by Tiger Lilli Sakima part 1

Blackfoot values and way of life is not a religion, it is a way of life everyday. Blackfoot are strongly connected to their homeland and revere their family bonds. The most important value in Blackfoot society, though, remains generosity. Generous people are held in high esteem and individuals are ridiculed if they accumulate wealth without the intention of sharing their good fortune. Blackfoot people continue to pray for good fortune and a long life, not for themselves, but to share with those around them.

There are four steps to effective learning is not surprising since the sacred number four figures in so many Siksika practices. There are, after all, four directions, four faces of the human being—the face of the child, the adolescent, the adult, and the aged. There are four kinds of things that breathe—those that crawl, those that fly, those that are two-legged, and those that are four-legged. There are four things above the earth—sun, moon, stars, and planets, and there are four parts to green things—roots, stem, leaves, and fruit . The medicine wheel symbolizes the four directions and four components of the human makeup—spiritual, mental, social, and physical—in its very composition and in its various activities.

The first step to effective learning is to listen and listen carefully. In traditional Siksika culture, grandparents and elders who are highly respected do the major portion of teaching. Elders possessing varied gifts traditionally serve the Siksika people. There are elders who are acknowledged and consulted for their medicinal knowledge while others have the right to conduct certain ceremonies. There are elders who are corporately acknowledged as wise people who are consulted as counselors might be today.

There have always been elders who serve as esteemed storytellers in Native societies. Mary Muktoyuk of the Yupiaq First Nation described the attitude towards elders in this way; “The elders, we hold in great respect. Whatever they tell us, we will listen very carefully, trying not to make mistakes when we listen, because we respect them so highly, because they know so much more than we do. This is still true and I pray it will always be true.

Much of what the elders teach is in the form of stories. Parents are for the most part excluded from the responsibility of child-raising since it is thought that they are mainly involved in the day to day activities of providing food and taking care of home life. Generally, speaking, however, raising children is a community responsibility.

It is traditionally considered a privilege to be taught by Blackfoot elders, particularly when they are relating sacred truths. At other times they will tell stories of entertainment or moral instruction, or stories to explain why things are the way they are. Commonly known as Indian legends, the essence of these stories are often common to Indian tribes all over Turtle Island. These stories, legends are told and retold, and through them the people demonstrate that they value life and revere the Creator "Napi'" who bestows blessings on them. These accounts also establish tribal identities and reinforce them, with each generation retelling accounts passed down by their elders. In this manner the same basic values hold steady in society as the people try to understand the path the Great Mystery "Napi'" has set out for each of them. While the main storyline remains constant there are times when recognized storytellers provided unique details as to their personal preference.

 

Susan Lynne Kitsinu's medicine

... beauty poised between powers of thought, Eagle, song, Mothering, and her dance is a relationship with herself. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

Adventures of Old Man ~ Blackfoot

As Old Man was traveling along, he saw a rock, and said, "Now I shall give you this robe." So he took off his robe and put it over the rock. Now Old Man was traveling with his little brother the Fox, and as they went on it began to look like rain, so Old Man sent his little brother back to get the robe. But when Fox came to the rock, and said that Old Man sent him for the robe because it was going to rain, the Rock said, "No, he gave it to me." Then Fox returned, and reported to Old Man. This made Old Man very mad. He hurried back to the rock, and jerked off the robe, saying, "You have been here many years without a robe, and now you will not give it back to me when I need it." Then Old Man went on. Presently he heard thunder. After a time Fox looked back and saw the rock rolling after them. Then they began to run. They ran as fast as they could. Presently Old Man saw some buffalo-bulls, and called on them for help. The bulls tried to stop the rock, but they were crushed. Then Old Man saw some bears, and called to them for help, but the bears could not stop the rock. Then Old Man saw some night-hawks, and called out to them for help. Then the night-hawks flew down, and each time they came near the rock they discharged their flatus, causing pieces to fly off. Finally the rock was broken to pieces, and from the inside came a bear and a bull [buffalo]. Now old Man came to a river where he saw some young night-hawks in a nest. "Oh, yes!" said he, "it was your father and mother who spoiled all my fun. They broke to pieces the rock that was chasing me. Now I shall tear your mouths." So he widened their mouths. When the old birds came back, the young ones told them what Old Man had said. So they pursued him. When they overtook him, they circled around and defecated over him.

As Old Man ran to escape them, he met a man with leggings made of calf-skin. Old Man called out to him for help. Now those leggings were medicine, and the owner caused them to make a fire, which frightened the night-hawks away. Then the two men sat down. Old Man said," Stranger, give me your leggings." "Well," said the man, "I will give them to you in winter. You will not need them in summer." Old Man insisted, and finally the man said he would give them to him after a while. "Well," said Old Man, "I am going over to the lodges you see yonder."

Now when Old Man came to the lodges, he said to the people, "Let us have a game." (This is a game in which the players move in a row. The leader carries a stick one end of which is on fire, and he strikes the stick, causing the sparks to fly around.) Now in this game Old Man led, and carried the stick. The people who were playing were deer and elk people. Then Old Man suggested that they play another game, "Wherever the leader goes." [In this game the players all follow the leader.] They played this until night. Finally they came to a very high bank. Now Old Man played a trick. He said, "Wait!" and crept down at another place; then, running up to the foot of the cliff, called out, "You have not heard me for a while because I have been laughing. I found a nice soft place when I jumped down." So all the animals jumped down and were killed. There were some females among them about to become mothers, who begged Old Man to be allowed to go. At last he granted their request.

Then Old Man dried the meat and kept it. After it was all eaten up, he traveled on again. Finally he came to a place where some squirrels were playing at a game. The squirrels would be covered up by one of them with hot ashes. Old Man asked them to let him play, but they declined. At length they agreed. Finally Old Man requested that he be allowed to cover them all up at once. Now there was one female squirrel who was about to become a mother, and she begged so pitifully of Old Man to let her go, that he consented. As he did so he said, "I will do this that there may be more squirrels in the world." Then he covered all the squirrels with the ashes, and when they became too hot, they called out to be uncovered; but Old Man paid no attention to this. So they died. Then Old Man brought some red willows and made a scaffold upon which to put his meat. Hence, the red willow is greasy to this day. When he had put all the squirrels out on the scaffold, he began to eat. Finally he could eat no more, but there were still many squirrels left. Now he went to sleep, and said to his anus, "If any one comes along, you make a noise and wake me up." So, whenever a bird or an insect came along, the anus made a noise, waking Old Man. This made him tired. Finally he was so sound asleep that he did not waken when the noise was made. Then a lynx came. He soon found the squirrels, and began to eat them.

Now when Old Man awoke, he was hungry, but found his meat gone. Then he was very angry. So he followed the tracks of the lynx, and soon found him sleeping on a flat stone. He caught the lynx, and tried to tear him in two by pulling on his front and hind legs, but did not succeed. Then he banged his nose on the rock, so that the lynx has a flat nose even to this day. Then he pulled out a bunch of hair from the pubes, and put it on the nose of the lynx for whiskers. Now Old Man was mad at his anus for all this. So he took a stick from the fire and rubbed it. This wood smells bad to this day.

Then Old Man started out but the bum was painful and he went up on a hill that the wind might fan it. There was no wind, so he rolled buffalo- chips down the hill in order to produce wind. At last the wind began to blow very hard, and he was carried along, bouncing up and down. He caught hold of bushes and trees, but none of them were strong enough to hold him. At last he caught hold of the birch. This did not break, but held him bouncing up and down. When the wind went down. Old Man was very angry. He scolded the birch for being so strong. Then he took out his knife and slashed the bark. [The cause of the markings on the bark.]

Now the man who promised the leggings to Old Man came with them. He said, "You must not use them every day. Do not put them on unless you want to set things on fire. Wear them on the ice, and when you are hungry, dance and sing, and up will come food. But you must not do these things often." Old Man paid no attention to what was said, took the leggings, put them on, and began to dance, and when he did so they took fire; so he took them off as quickly as he could, and gave them back to their owner.

At this time the women and the men were not married, and Old Man came to a place where the women were going to pick out husbands. Old Man stood among the men, but no one picked him out. This took place in a buffalo-drive. When Old Man found that he had not been chosen, he was very angry. He began to tear down the cliff; then he turned into a pine-tree, and has been there ever since.

Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History, Vol. II, 1908
Submitted by Wolf Walker. From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories.