Material Culture of the Blackfoot (Blood) Indians of Southern Alberta
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572.05 FA N.S. no. 14-20 1990-93 Anthropology NO. 19 Material Culture of the Blackfoot (Blood) Indians of Southern Alberta James W. VanStone October 30, 1992 Publication 1439 PUBLISHED BY FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Information for Contributors to Fieldiana ed as space pen .mnted pa;. me. Contributions from staff, res- on regardless of ability to pay page charges, however, the full Three complete copies of the text (includin led (one or plus two nsidered for pub ^viewers before all materia 1 in IBM-compatible computer using MS-DOS, also submit text on 5 /4-inch di. page. In m he text should be preceded by an "Abstract' ited." All measurements should be in tl Id follow that of recent issues oi I Reference' les should be given in mid follow Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianun: vomic an (1976 et seq.) (botanical papers) or Serial Sources for the Biosis Data 1 s Information Service. Names of botanical authors should follow the "Draft Inde; •irdens, Kew," 1984 edition. References should be typed in the following foi • Island. Stai 1 ). Pennington. I! parison of montane and low I. The foi rysiognomy, and floristics. Journal of Ecology. 51: 567-: ge among the Siona: Cultural patterns in visions, pp. 63-80. In Bro Stars. Mouton Publishers, The Hague, Nctherlai idor, pp. 785-821. In Steward. J. H., ed., Handbook of South Am< ITie Ande 13, Bureau >n, Washing. rt II. Polypodiaa Illustrations: III res" in the text (not as "plates"). Figures mi mpanied by le, normally a rcfercm ns alone, such as iee recent issues of Fieldiana for detail narked or. with authu <;ure number(s), and "top." iches (22 x 28 cm), and jngcment to be obtained in the printed work lows: Pen and ink drawings maybe originals •: • limitation; and photostats must be high-qu;i! author will n made and queri: - of page proofs. Changes in pag( made if ihi A.TION IS PRINTED ON ACID-FREE PAPER. FIELDIANA Anthropology NEW SERIES, NO. 19 Material Culture of the Blackfoot (Blood) Indians of Southern Alberta James W. VanStone Curator, North American Archaeology and Ethnology Department ofAnthropology Field Museum of Natural History Chicago, Illinois 60605-2496 Accepted May 8, 1992 Published October 30, 1992 Publication 1439 PUBLISHED BY FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY © 1992 Field Museum of Natural History Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-73789 ISSN 0071-4739 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Table of Contents 9. Awl cases, hammer heads 36 10. Quirts 37 11. Parfleche 38 Abstract 1 12. Saddlebag 39 I. Introduction 1 1 3. Backrest 40 The Blood 1 14. Three-pole backrest stand 41 George Dorsey as Collector 2 1 5. Bowls, quirt 42 II. The Collection 3 16. Bowls 43 Shelter 3 1 7. Ladles or dippers 44 Subsistence 4 1 8. Pouches, berry bag 45 Tools 6 19. Woman's dress pattern 46 Transportation 7 20. Woman's dress 47 Household Equipment 8 2 1 . Woman's dress 48 Clothing 9 22. Woman's dress 49 Dresses and Shirts 9 23. Woman's dress 50 Leggings 12 24. Woman's robe 51 Belts and Armbands 13 25. "War shirt" pattern 52 Moccasins 13 26. "War shirt" 53 Clothing Ornamentation 15 27. "War shirt" 54 Personal Adornment 16 28. "War shirt" 55 Ceremonial Equipment 16 29. Child's coat 56 Pipes and Related Objects 16 30. Leggings 57 Charms 18 3 1 . Leggings 58 Musical Instruments 19 32. Leggings 59 Games and Toys 20 33. Belts 60 Painted Ornamentation 21 34. Leggings, armbands, moccasin uppers .61 HI. Conclusions 22 35. Moccasins 62 Acknowledgments 24 36. Moccasins 63 Literature Cited 24 37. Moccasins 64 Appendix 26 38. Rosettes, earrings, strips for shirt or leg- gings, gopher skin 65 39. Necklaces, mirror, breast ornament, bracelets 66 40. Pipes 67 41 . Pipe tampers, pipes 68 List of Illustrations 42. Pipe bags 69 43. Pipe bags 70 44. Pipe bags 71 1. Map of central and southern Alberta ... 28 45. Rattles 72 2. Model tipi cover 29 46. Drums 73 3. Back wall 30 47. Drum 74 4. Bow, arrows 31 48. Drum cover design 75 5. Gun case, quiver and bow case 32 49. Drum 76 6. Gun case 33 50. Dice, hoops for hoop-and-pole game, paint 7. Arrow shaft straightener, knife sheaths, brushes, paint bags 77 signal glass 34 51. Toys 78 8. Hide scrapers, hammer, hide fleshers, knife 52. Toys 79 sheath, knife sharpener 35 53. Painting on cotton cloth 80 in Material Culture of the Blackfoot (Blood) Indians of Southern Alberta James W. VanStone Abstract The collections of the Field Museum of Natural History contain 168 ethnographic objects collected among the Blackfoot (Blood) Indians of southern Alberta by John M. Maclean for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 and George A. Dorsey in 1897. The artifacts in these collections are described and illustrated. For comparative purposes, information is in- cluded from previous studies of the Blackfoot, notably those of Wissler (1910) and Ewers ( 1 939, 1945, 1958). I. Introduction Montana. At the present time the tribes live on four reservations, one in Montana and the others The Blood in Alberta. Most of the Blackfoot country was short-grass The Blood Indians are part of the Blackfoot na- high plains, but the Indians also hunted on the tion, which in historic times has consisted of three eastern margins and foothills of the Rocky Moun- politically independent tribes: the Pikuni or Pie- tains. They were buffalo hunters and horse raiders, gan, the Kainah or Blood, and the Siksika or traveling in loosely organized bands consisting fre- Northern Blackfoot. The three tribes speak the quently of close relatives but whose essential pur- same Algonkian language, shared most ofthe same poses were economic and political. Hostile tribes customs, intermarried, and made war on common surrounded the Blackfoot, and warfare was con- enemies. Although at one time the Blackfoot were tinuous on the western plains until the reserve probably one tribe, the separate units were rec- period. The three Blackfoot tribes were closely al- ognized by the earliest explorers of the northern lied in warfare with the Sarsi and Gros Ventre plains, where these Indians inhabited a vast area (Ewers, 1958, pp. 5-6; McMillan, 1988, pp. 137- from the upper Missouri River to the North Sas- 139). katchewan River in Alberta. In the early 18th century the Blackfoot received Because the Blackfoot speak an Algonkian lan- horses, probably as gifts from the Flathead, Ku- guage, they are related to forest-dwelling tribes east tenai, Nez Perce, or Gros Ventre. It was during of the Plains and may have occupied the western this century that the Blackfoot developed their frontier of the eastern woodlands before moving pattern of acquiring horses by capture, a practice out onto the Plains. The earliest traditions suggest that continued until the disappearance of the buf- that the Northern Blackfoot lived along the North falo (Ewers, 1955, p. 19). Saskatchewan River, the Blood along the Red Deer It is probable that a few Blood Indians visited River, and the Piegan on the Bow River, all in York Factory on Hudson Bay as early as the sum- what is now the province of Alberta (fig. 1). Pres- mer of 1 7 1 5 and some Blood continued to make sure from the Plains Cree and Assiniboine pushed the trip during the early decades of the 1 8th cen- them south until the Northern Blackfoot were on tury. Those who did always arrived in the com- the Bow, and the Blood and Piegan in extreme pany ofAssiniboine and Cree, suggesting that they southwestern Alberta, the latter extending into may not have been permitted to do so without FIELDIANA: ANTHROPOLOGY, N.S., NO. 19, OCTOBER 30, 1992, PP. 1-80 such an escort. By 1 740 the spread ofhorses north- place their lodges. In the spring of 1 88 1 those Blood ward resulted in an increasingly grassland orien- in Montana returned, and by 1882 most of the tation of the Blood, and this meant that some Indians had accepted their new way of life as farm- bands would no longer have been able to make ers. A new treaty was signed with the head men the trip to the Bay since they had given up the use of the band in 1883 and ratified in Ottawa two of canoes. Also, because the Blood had to travel years later. The Blood Reserve, the largest in Can- such great distances to reach Hudson Bay, they ada, runs in a southerly direction from the forks were unable to carry sufficient provisions in their of the Belly and St. Mary's rivers for about 40 canoes to supply themselves for the trip in two miles to within 14 miles of the International directions. In 1 762 some Indians starved to death Boundary. It covers 540 square miles or 354,000 on the way home and the Blood apparently did acres (Goldfrank, 1945, p. 13;Dempsey, 1953, pp. not return to York Factory after that date (Ray, 27-30, 1972, pp. 104-106). 1974, pp. 53, 55, 59-61). In addition to the arduous travel required to reach Hudson Bay, there is no doubt that the eco- George Dorsey as Collector nomic self-sufficiency provided by the great herds of buffalo was instrumental in discouraging in- George A. Dorsey joined the staff of the Field volvement of the Blood in the fur trade. Anthony Columbian Museum (later the Field Museum of Hendry, the first white man to visit them in 1 754, Natural History) in 1896 as curator of anthropol- was unsuccessful in persuading the Blood to move ogy.