The Blackfeet form a numerous nation, which is divided into three tribes, speaking one and the same language. These tribes are—
1. The Siksekai or Seksekai, the Blackfeet properly so called.[83]
2. The Kahna or Kaënna, the Blood Indians.[84]
3. The Piekanns.
All together they can bring into the field 5000 or 6000 warriors, and, doubtless, amount to 18,000 or 20,000 souls, which number is assumed by Dr. Morse, though he thinks it below the truth. Warden estimates the number of the Blackfeet at only 5000 souls, of whom the half, he says, are warriors; this is unquestionably far too low an estimate. We shall have the number of 18,000 or 20,000 souls, if we reckon only three women, children, and old men, for one warrior, and this is certainly a very low estimate. The Blackfeet move about in the prairies near the Rocky Mountains, and partly live among those mountains, but especially they dwell between the three forks of the Missouri, of which Jefferson River is the most northerly; the Madison River, the western or central; and the Gallatin the most southerly or easterly. They live, however, especially the Piekanns, as far down as Maria River, in the prairies of which they move about, and where all the three tribes sometimes meet to trade with the American Fur Company. They likewise trade with the Hudson's Bay Company, and with the Spaniards of Santa Fe, as appears from the Spanish blankets, crosses, &c., which they wear. There is, probably, no reason to doubt that they take most of these things in war, for the rifles, compasses, &c., which we found in their possession, were marked with the names of the owners. They are always dangerous {246} to white men who are hunting singly in the mountains, especially to the beaver hunters, and kill them whenever they fall into their hands; hence the armed troops of the traders keep up a continual war with them. It was said that in the year 1832 they shot fifty-eight Whites, and a couple of years before that time, above eighty. In the neighbourhood of the forts they keep the peace, and the Piekanns, in particular, behave well and amicably to the Whites, whereas the Blood Indians and the Siksekai can never be trusted. They are all great adepts in horse stealing, even in the vicinity of the trading posts. All these Indians are comprehended, by the Whites, under the general name of Blackfeet, which they themselves do not, however, extend so far, but know each of the three tribes only by its own proper name. As they speak only one language, keep together, and differ but little in their external appearance, they are justly considered as one and the same nation, and I shall always speak of them as such by this general name.
We do not, at present, possess any accurate and detailed account of these people, for the American Fur Company, who trade with them, and therefore have had the best opportunity of becoming acquainted with them, seldom take any interest in scientific researches. How little has hitherto been known of these people is proved by the fact that Brackenridge declares them to be Sioux, though a comparison of some words of their language immediately proves the contrary.[85] In their exterior, the Blackfeet do not much differ from the other Indians of the Upper Missouri. They are robust, generally well made men, and some of the women and girls are very pretty. The men are partly broad shouldered and muscular, partly of middle stature, and thickset. One of the Blood Indians measured six feet eleven inches English measure. Several Piekanns were nearly six feet, French measure. The Big Soldier was five feet ten inches two lines, French measure. Their arms and legs are more slender than those of the Whites, but this is by no means a general rule. Their hands and feet are, for the most part, small, of a blackish-brown colour, with prominent veins, exactly like the Botocudos and other Brazilians, with whom, as I have already observed, evident traces of this affinity appear in all the North American Indians. Their features are in the main the same as those of the other Indians which have been before described. The nose is often slightly curved or bent downwards, frequently long and thin, almost like those of the Jews, and the nostrils not extended, which is more frequently, though not always seen in the Brazilians. Their eyes are mostly hazel, yet I saw one Piekann with a light bluish-grey circle round the iris. Their hair is jet black, and generally stiff, yet often not so shining a black as that of the Brazilians; their beard is not thin, but is carefully plucked out, for which purpose they have a twisted wire, or a piece of tin bent together like a pair of tweezers. Old people often have grey hair, but some young men are seen whose hair is dyed of a dark brown. A whole family of Piekanns, near Fort Mc Kenzie, had such hair mixed with a good deal of grey. I never saw any with bald heads. The colour of the skin of these Indians is mostly a fine bright reddish-brown, often really copper colour, and generally darker than in the Brazilians. {247} Even little children have the dark brown colour, but newly born infants are rather paler. Children, as in Brazil, have, in general, prominent bellies and thin limbs, and often the navel large and swollen.
The Blackfeet do not disfigure their bodies; none of the nations of the Missouri bore the nose and lips, except a tribe in the Rocky Mountains, who are known by the name of Pierced Nosed Indians, because they bore a hole through the gristle of the nose. It is only in the ear that the Blackfeet pierce one or two small holes, in which they wear various ornaments, such as strings of glass beads, alternating with white cylinders, which they get from the Dentalium, which they barter from the nations on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, especially the Kutanas.[86] Many Blackfeet do not wear anything in their ears, which are generally concealed by their long thick hair. I have never seen any tattooing among them. On the other hand, many had, upon their arms, parallel transverse incisions, which were cicatrized, and most of them wanted one or two joints of a finger, of which I shall have occasion to speak by-and-by. They paint their faces red with vermilion; this colour, which they procure by barter from the traders, is rubbed in with fat, which gives them a shining appearance. Others colour only the edge of their eyelids, and some stripes in the face, with red; others use a certain yellow clay for the face, and red round the eyes; others, again, paint the face red, and the forehead, a stripe down the nose, and the chin, blue, with the shining earth from the mountains which I have before mentioned, and which, being analyzed by Professor Cordier,[87] at Paris, he found to be mixed with an earthy peroxide of iron, probably mixed with some clay. Others colour the whole face black, and only the eyelids and some stripes red. The women and children paint the face only of a uniform red. The vermilion costs the Indians very dear, for the Company supply it from their stores at ten dollars a pound. The Blackfeet do not paint the body—at least, I have never seen it, and it is generally covered. Their hair hangs down straight and stiff, often in disorder over the eyes and round the head. Young people, however, who pay more attention to neatness, part it regularly over the forehead, and comb it smooth. A small sea-shell is often fastened to a tuft of hair on each side, close to the temples; others were on one side, and often on both sides of the forehead, and a lock of hair with brass and iron wire twisted round it; lastly, a few adopted the ornament usual among the Manitaries and Mandans, which forms a long string on each side of the forehead, and will be particularly described when we are treating of the latter. Such a one was worn by the son of the old Kutona, Makuie-Poka, and by a few other Blackfeet, who had had intercourse with the Manitaries. Some distinguished Blackfeet warriors had a tuft of the feathers of owls, or birds of prey, hanging at the back of the head; sometimes ermine skin, with little stripes of red cloth, adorned with bright buttons; or, on the top of the head, broad black feathers, cut short, like a brush, as represented in the portrait of the Assiniboin, Noapeh.[88] Some braid the hair in a long thick queue behind, and many, especially the {248} medicine men, or jugglers, wear it, like the Mandans and Manitaries, divided into several thick queues all round, and generally bind them all together with a leather strap, in a thick knot over the forehead. Many bind a narrow strip of skin, or a leather strap, round the head, and stick one or two feathers in it; several fasten large bears' claws in their hair; most of them, when in full dress, wear the large necklace of these claws, which is a costly and handsome ornament; or else one made of certain roots, which smell like Fœnum Græcum, which they obtain from the Kutanas.[89] Very often they adorn themselves with a braided necklace, composed of a sweet-smelling grass, probably anthoxanthum, with others of glass beads, which they buy of the Company for three or four dollars a pound, and which the women in particular highly value. Some Piekanns hang round their necks a green stone,[90] often of various shapes, or the teeth of buffaloes, stags, elks, horses, &c., or large round flat pieces cut out of shells. On their fingers they wear rings, mostly of brass, which they purchase, by dozens, of the Company—often six or eight on each finger, often only one or two on the whole hand. They generally let their finger nails grow long, always, at least, the thumb nail, which is often crooked like a claw.
The dress of the Blackfeet is made of tanned leather, and the handsomest leather shirts are made of the skin of the bighorn, which, when new, is of a yellowish-white colour, and looks very well. A narrow strip of the skin with the hair is generally left at the edge of such a skin. These shirts have half sleeves, and the seams are trimmed with tufts of human hair, or of horse-hair dyed of various colours, hanging down, and with porcupine quills sewn round their roots. These shirts generally have at the neck a flap hanging down both before and behind, which we saw usually lined with red cloth, ornamented with fringe, or with stripes of yellow and coloured porcupine quills, or of sky-blue glass beads. Some have all these fringes composed of slips of white ermine; this is a very costly ornament, these little animals having become scarce. Many of the distinguished chiefs and warriors wore such dresses, which are really handsome, ornamented with many strings hanging down, in the fashion of an Hungarian tobacco pouch. When these leather shirts begin to be dirty, they are often painted of a reddish-brown colour; but they are much handsomer when they are new. Some of these Indians wear on the breast and back round rosettes like the Assiniboins, but this is only a foreign fashion, and the genuine Blackfoot costume has no such ornament. Their leggins are made like those of the other Missouri Indians, and ornamented, in the same manner, with tufts of hair or stripes of porcupine quills; the shoes, of buffalo or elk leather, are also adorned with porcupine quills, each having a ground of a different colour for its ornaments; thus, if one is white, the other is yellow—a fashion which does not exist lower down the Missouri, where both shoes are of the same colour. The chief article of their dress, {249} the large buffalo robe, is, for the most part, painted on the tanned side, but less skilfully than among the other nations. In general, there are black parallel lines mixed with a few figures, often with arrow heads, or other bad arabesques; others, again, are painted with representations of their warlike exploits, in black, red, green, and yellow. The figures represent the taking of prisoners, dead or wounded enemies, captured arms and horses, blood, balls flying about in the air, and such subjects. Such robes are embroidered with transverse bands of porcupine quills of the most brilliant colours, divided into two equal parts by a round rosette of the same. The ground of the skin is often reddish-brown, and the figures on it black. All the Missouri Indians wear these robes, and it is well known that those of the Manitaries and the Crows are the most beautifully worked and painted. In the description of Major Long's first expedition, there is a representation of such a skin,[91] but it is the only one of this kind which has come to my knowledge, and I have, therefore, had a drawing made of such a one.[92] The Company gives the value of six to ten dollars for such a skin. During the summer, the fur is worn outside, and in winter inside. The right arm and shoulder are generally bare. It might be thought that this dress was too hot in summer, and too cold in winter, but custom reconciles us to everything, and they dress pretty nearly in the same manner in the opposite seasons.
The Blackfeet, like the other tribes, carry in their hands the wing of an eagle or a swan, the tail of an owl or bird of prey, as a fan, the handle of which is covered with leather, or coloured cloth. The Company now sends to its trading posts the tails of wild turkeys, which are much in request. In general, every Blackfoot carries a whip, as well as his weapons, in his hand; a gun and his bow and arrows on his shoulder, the latter in a quiver or bag made of skin or leather, to which a bow case of the same is fastened. On his shoulder he likewise has his pouch, containing his powder-horn, and a large knife, in a sheath, is stuck behind in his leathern girdle. In the summer, and even frequently in the winter, these Indians wear their buffalo robe without any underclothing. The dress of the women is the same as among the other Missouri Indians: it is a long leather shirt, coming down to their feet, bound round the waist with a girdle, and is often ornamented with many rows of elks' teeth, bright buttons, and glass beads. The dress wraps over the breast, and has short, wide sleeves, ornamented with a good deal of fringe, which often hang down nearly in the same manner as in the national Polish dress, but not below the elbows. The lower arm is bare. The hem of the dress is likewise trimmed with fringes and scolloped. The women ornament their best dresses, both on the hem and sleeves, with dyed porcupine quills and thin leather strips, with broad diversified stripes of sky-blue and white glass beads. The Indians do not like beads of other colours, for instance, red, next the skin; and their taste in the contrast of colours is very correct, for in their black hair they generally wear red, and on their brown skins, sky-blue, white, or yellow. The women are very skilful in making their clothes and tanning the leather; the men only make their arms and smoking apparatus. The women, {250} who, on the whole, have not an uncomfortable lot, are obliged, as among the other tribes, to perform the heavy work. They are likewise very skilful in the art of dyeing; and, to produce the beautiful yellow colour, they employ a lemon-coloured moss from the Rocky Mountains, which grows in the fir trees, my specimens of which are unfortunately lost. A certain root furnishes a beautiful red dye, and they extract many other bright colours from the goods procured from the Whites. With them they dye the porcupine quills and the quills of the feathers, with which they embroider very neatly. The girls are dressed in the same manner as the women, and their dresses are generally ornamented with elks' teeth, for which the Indians pay a high price.
The leather tents of the Blackfeet, their internal arrangement, and the manner of loading their dogs and horses, agree, in every respect, with those of the Sioux and Assiniboins, and all the wandering tribes of hunters of the Upper Missouri. The tents, made of tanned buffalo skin, last only for one year; they are, at first, neat and white, afterwards brownish, and at the top, where the smoke issues, black, and, at last, transparent, like parchment, and very light inside. Painted tents, adorned with figures, are very seldom seen, and only a few chiefs possess them. When these tents are taken down, they leave a circle of sods, exactly as in the dwellings of the Esquimaux. They are often surrounded by fifteen or twenty dogs, which serve, not for food, but only for drawing and carrying their baggage. Some Blackfeet, who have visited the Sioux, have imitated them in eating dogs, but this is rare. Near the tent they keep their dog sledges, with which they form conical piles resembling the tents themselves, but differing from them in not being covered with leather. On these they hang their shields, travelling bags, saddles and bridles; and at some height, out of the reach of the hungry dogs, they hang the meat, which is cut into long strips, their skins, &c. The medicine bag or bundle, the conjuring apparatus, is often hung and fastened to a separate pole, or over the door of the tent. Their household goods consist of buffalo robes and blankets, many kinds of painted parchment bags, some of them in a semicircular form, with leather strings and fringes;[93] wooden dishes, large {251} spoons made of the horn of the mountain sheep, which are very wide and deep;[94] similar drinking vessels made of horn, kettles, and sometimes tin utensils, which they obtain from the merchants, clothes, &c. In the centre of the tent there is a small fire in a circle composed of stones, over which the kettle for cooking is suspended. Among their household goods we may reckon the harness of their horses. The horse has, generally, only a long rope, made of buffalo hair, fastened to the lower jaw, with which it is tied in the meadow. The saddle consists of two broad flat boards, inclining towards each other at an angle, which lie along the sides of the horse's back; it has before and behind an upright piece, which frequently has a leather fringe hanging to it. It is covered with a skin, and has another under it, and these skins serve the rider, at night, for a bed. The Blackfeet are fond of a handsome housing, made of a large panther's skin, which they generally obtain from the Rocky Mountains. As these animals have now become more scarce, a high price is often given for the skin; sometimes a good horse, and even several, and seldom less than sixty dollars in value. The panther's skin is so laid across the horse that the long tail hangs down on one side, and has scarlet cloth laid under it, which forms all round a broad border, as well to the fore legs as at the head and tail.[95]