Blackfeet Nation of Montana

This is certainly not a comprehensive article on this fascinating Nation and I don't wish to be disrespectful. My son-in-law and thus my granddaughter are from this Nation, one of the oldest in our world. I am writing this out of my deep respect. These are the true Americans. Not the gun-toting, chest beating nationalists who call themselves Americans and claiming to be Patriots. DNA research has shown that the Blackfeet Nation has been on this land for 18,000 (eighteen thousand for those who those the comma was a typo). White man has been here about 500 years. It is time for a little humility, folks.

For centuries, the Blackfeet Nation of Montana have held a deep and unbroken connection to their ancestral lands. Their oral histories have long spoken of a presence in the region stretching back thousands of years, a claim now confirmed by modern science.

In 2022, groundbreaking DNA evidence revealed that the Blackfeet’s ancestors have lived in Montana for at least 18,000 years, far earlier than written records or archaeological assumptions had suggested. This discovery not only validates the Nation’s oral traditions but also highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge in understanding human history.

For 18 millennia, generations of Blackfeet people thrived in the vast plains, mountains, and river valleys of Montana. They developed complex social structures, rich cultural practices, and sustainable ways of life intimately connected to the land. The DNA evidence underscores what the Blackfeet have always known: their presence in the region predates much of what history books previously documented about human habitation in North America.

This revelation challenges conventional narratives that have often overlooked or underestimated the longevity and continuity of indigenous civilizations. It reminds us that history is not only written in texts and artefacts but also preserved through stories, traditions, and lived experiences passed down across generations.

The confirmation of 18,000 years of Blackfeet history is more than a scientific milestone, it is a powerful affirmation of identity, heritage, and resilience. It shows that the people of the Blackfeet Nation have been stewards of their lands for tens of thousands of years, shaping the culture, ecology, and history of Montana in ways that continue to resonate today.

Stories like these remind us that indigenous knowledge is invaluable, and that history is often far richer and older than conventional records suggest. By listening to these voices and embracing new evidence, we gain a fuller, more accurate understanding of humanity’s past.

The Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, is a federally recognized tribe of Siksikaitsitapi people with an Indian reservation in Montana. Tribal members primarily belong to the Piegan Blackfeet (Ampskapi Piikani) band of the larger Blackfoot Confederacy that spans Canada and the United States.

The Blackfeet Indian Reservation is located east of Glacier National Park and borders the Canadian province of Alberta. Cut Bank Creek and Birch Creek form part of its eastern and southern borders. The reservation contains 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2), twice the size of the national park and larger than the state of Delaware. It is located in parts of Glacier and Pondera counties.

History

The Blackfeet claim to have lived on the Northern Great Plains for thousands of years. Through raids in the Southern Plains and trade with the Cree, they eventually acquired firearms and horses. They were a powerful force on the Great Plains, controlling an area that extended from North of current day Edmonton, Alberta Province, as far South as to Yellowstone National Park; and as far West from Glacier Park all the way East to the Black Hills of South Dakota. After contact with settlers, they increasingly kept to the most Western regions of their territory and slowly exited what is now Eastern Montana and Western Saskatchewan. The Badger Two Medicine area, south of Glacier Park, was and remains an especially sacred site for the tribe.

During the late 19th century, Blackfeet territory was encroached on and annexed by European Americans and Canadians, who eventually forced the Blackfeet to cede their lands. The Blackfeet moved to smaller Indian reservations in the United States and reserves in Canada. Adjacent to their reservation, established by Treaty of 1896, are two federally controlled areas: the Lewis and Clark National Forest, set up in 1896, which contains the Badger-Two Medicine area, an area of 200 square miles (520 km2); and Glacier National Park, both part of the tribal nation's former territory. The Badger-Two Medicine area is sacred to the Blackfeet people. This sacred part of the Rocky Mountain Front was excluded from Blackfeet lands in a Treaty of 1896, but they reserved uninhibited access for hunting, foraging, and fishing rights.[7] Since the early 1980s, when the Bureau of Land Management illegally sold drilling rights leases without consultation with the tribe (violating both treaty law and the U.S. Environmental Protections Act), the Blackfeet have worked to prevent ecological harm to land they know as sacred and roll back the leases.

The United States federal government temporarily suspended most leasing activities for drilling in this area in the 1990s, and in 2007 the Bush administration made permanent a moratorium on issuing new permits. Many leaseholders had already voluntarily relinquished their leases, and in November 2016 the Department of Interior announced the cancellation of the 15 drilling rights leases held by Devon Energy Corporation in the Badger-Two Medicine area. The Blackfeet had documented that the area was not a "wilderness," as the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex was designated in 1964, but a "human landscape" shaped by and integral to their culture. There was one remaining oil lease credited to the name of Solenex LLC which refused to give up its lease. In June 2020, a court ruled in favor of the Blackfeet Nation and maintained that Solenex cannot drill in the Badger Two Medicine. Later, during the Biden administration in 2021, a federal appeals court overturned the ruling and further authorized Solenex to drill. Tribal lawyers worked with a coalition of other tribes and nonprofits to settle with Solenex. In 2023, they settled for $2.3 million, ending all of Solenex's current and future activities on the land. The Blackfeet then coalesced a wide-ranging group of stakeholders, including tribal representatives, to oversee further stewardship and conservation of the Badger Two Medicine.

As some of you know, I am a songwriter in addition to an essayist and poet. Here is a song I wrote about my little granddaughter. Her grandpa is Blackfeet, but ironically when we did the DNA analysis for tribe placement, she came out as primarily Chippewa. This is not a great pic, she is beautiful, smart, talented.

Whose Gonna Stop Me?

https://youtu.be/ivQlqy-wN3o?si=zM351FScsP25gnRT

My Granddaughter and her father were born on the same day -- June 26. I wrote this to honor them.

https://youtu.be/Mol9xtY7lL4?si=8sDu46vnysFKFO71