This first of several presentations that provide information on the old PIkunii lifestyles. Lesson 1 includes the social life, migration routes, traditional territory, social norms and much more about Pikunii ancestors. Knowing these everyday topics is a form of preserving our heritage and cultural revitalization. Enjoy and learn lots!! =)

1. Ampskapi Pikunii Way of Life

2. Content:
• Presentation1: Pikunii Way of Life
• Original territoryand boundaries
• Migration patterns/seasons
• HuntingMethods
• Tipi Life (neetuyis life)
• Pikunii Social Life
• Presentation2: Pikunii Traditions
• Iniskim
• War Bonnet and transferring
• Sweat bathing
• Okan,Medicine Lodge
• Scarface Legend
• Presentation 3: Special Topics
• Gatherers ofwhat?
• Mountain Chief
• Gifts of the buffalo
• Buildingthe Okan
• Special Requests
Chief Mountain (viewed from the east )

3. Original Territory and Boundaries:
The original lands of the Pikunii
stretched as far North as
present-day Edmonton, to as
far South as present-day Yellow
Stone National Park. As far
West as present-day West
Glacier; and as far Eastas
Sweet Grass Hills.
Map from “The Sun Came Down” by Percy Bullchild

4. Siksika Origins
Napi and the animals
C.M. Russel Painting
Siksika – “blackened moccasins”
Na’api – Old Man
Ksah-Kom-Mii-Ta – Mother Earth/Earth People
• Napi sculpted and gave life and
necessities to all on ksah-kom-mii-
ta
• Napi then marked off a piece of
land:
“There is your land, and it is full
of all kinds of animalsand many
things grow in this land… Thisis
for you five tribes (Blackfeet,
Bloods, Piegans, Gros Ventres,
Sarcees).”
The BlackfootPapers, Vol. 1, p. 14

5. Siksika Seasons of the Year
• Two principalseasons: Summer and Winter
• Each season is supposed to have 7 moons that
were tracked nightly
• The number 7 is a special number in
Blackfoot ceremonies
• The moons, seasons, and tribal historicalevents
were commonly recorded by Beaver Bundle men.
“Some cut fourteen fresh buckskin strings at the
beginning of the new year (at the time of first
snows)”
The BlackfootPapers, V1, p. 127
Aoh po ta – 'it is snowing'
Yiipo- 'when leaves grow' - summer

6. Migration Patterns
1. In Spring, the Piegans left their winter camp on the Marias River
to hunt for buffalo bulls. This brought them east of Shelby, probably
near the lower Sweet Grass Hills
2. From there they would head towards the Cypress Hills, South of
Medicine Hat
3. From the Cypress Hills, they partially retraced their route back to
Bad Water (Pakowki Lake, Alberta; 144 mile drive from present-day
Browning)
4. Then they went east again, by this time it was berry picking
season, they would be around Manyberries, Alberta (173 mile drive
from present-day Browning)
5. They would make their way back up to Bulls-Head for high-
ground west end Cypress Hills
to continue picking berries
6. Then the chief led the tribe to Seven Persons, Alberta to hunt
ponoka and iinnii
7. Back to the Cypress Hills to cut lodge poles (MON-STAN – lodge
poles)
8. West to Long Lakes and Green Lake to hunt stray bulls (SE of
present-day Lethbridge)
9. Lastly, they met with the Milk River at Writing Stone to hunt iinnii
and saukawakasii (buffalo and antelope), and get more MON-STAN.
10. By this time it was late fall and they headed to the wooded,
sheltered area of Cut Bank Creek

7. Hunting Methods of the Pikunni
Indians Hunting the Bison, by Karl Bodmer

8. 5 Hunting Methods Depending on Season
• Buffalo Jump (Piskun), fall
• Natural Barriers, winter
• Surround, spring/summer
• Long Coulee
• Sneak up method – spring/summer

9. Neet-uyis Life
• Uncommon in moderate times, the women of the
householdwere the ones responsible for
constructing/deconstructingtheir camp while the
men were gathering
• Allegedly, the woman of the householdwas
able to set up her entire householdin less
than an hour. Half the time to pack it up
• They replaced their hide lodges about 1x/year,
spring or summer when the buffalo hide is
thinnest
• A neet-uyis was made from cow buffalohide
because it is light yet warm for their life of
migrating/tracking
• Lodges needed 6-20+ hides each
• Chief lodges needed as many as 40 hides
Neet-uyis – real lodge
Naapi-uyis– modern house or building
A group of women sitting in the Sun Dance camp circle, sewing a new tipi cover. Behind them is the
Yellow-Painted Buffalo Lodge. TBP, V2, p. 330

10. Neet—uyis Life Cont.
• Nínaa slept and sat on the North side
• Aakíí slept and sat on the South Side
• The sits-beside-him wife sat next to
his main wife at the head of the
women’s side
• Sits-beside him gestured the seating
arrangements dependingon social
roles
• Bundle and pipe holders alongwith
the medicines often sat at the back
so people did not walk in from of
them
• They used coal from the fire to create
an incense on the alter for their
specific medicine
N
E
S
W
🔥
Entrance
Men’s Side
Women’s Side
Family’s
bundles
and
other
medicine
things:
on either
a tripod
or tied to
the poles
Altar area
Nínaa – man
Aakíí - woman

11. Social Life of the Pikunii
Birth and Childhood
- Children were born anywhere
and, in any condition, ideally in
a lodge
- A woman commonly squatted
and held onto something above
her head to push; with the
assistance of the midwife
especially
- Babies wereswaddled in soft
hides or furs, with moss or
rooted wood pulp as a diaper
- Aakíí generally kept their names
from childhood.
- Nínaa names changed with
milestones they achieved in
their lifetime
- Youth were commonly married
off even before fertility,
although they would often live
with their parents until puberty
in most cases
Kinship and Marriage
- Aakíí were was very esteemed
when they held onto their
purity until marriage
- It was a social grief for the
family when pregnancies
came of temptations
before marriage and the
aakíí were socially
disgraced
- The men gifted the family with
horses or other means in return
for their nitana (daughter)
- If the nis (son-in-law) was
unable to provide a gift,
the marriage had a lower
esteem in their band
- It was common for Pikunii men
to have more than one wife
Social Roles
- A pikuniinínaawas the “chief” of his
household:responsible for protecting
and guarding his familyand ensuring
they had enough meat and hides for
survival
- The aakííwere responsiblefor wood,
water, meals, and most material items
like mocassins, lodge covers, bedding,
and clothes
- The sits-beside-him-wife was the owner
of the lodge and all practical belongings
- Although uncommon, separationand/or
abuse left the woman with her lodge
and family. While the nínaa would only
get his marriage gifts returned to him

12. BlackfootLodges:
The scene shows part of a Pikunnii band camp sometime in the 1880swhen the buffalo disappeared (1884completely). Travoidleaning
up againstthe tipis is proves they were still migrating during these times of despair. The nínaa has on a blanket coat made from a white
four-point blanket with a single black stripe. His fur hat has ears, and was perhaps used for hunting, or else it was his medicine.

13. Pikunii Social Life Cont.
Death
• Medicine men and women were
commonly called upon in sickness and
death
• Many still practice their traditional
medicine despite centuries of oppression
• Preferred for death to occur outside
the neet-uyis,otherwise it had to be
left with the deceased
• Exception were chiefs and leaders. They
died in their lodge and had it sealed up
with rocks at their favorite camping
grounds; the rocks commonly on knolls
are known as “medicine circles” to-day
• A leader’s family then had to build an
entire new household set-up
• If it was a wish, a man’s favorite horse or
dog would be killed with him to
accompany his spirit journey
• Blackfeet believein the Sandhills,the
restingplace for their spirits far east in
traditionalcountry
• Widows cut their hair in grief and
mourn.Men would sometimes go on
savage warpaths that killed them in
mourning
Burial
• Depended on the wishes of the
family – all wishes were
followed, no fighting or
questions
• Wrapped the bodies in tipi
covers, robes, and blankets
• Burying on platforms in
cottonwood trees
• Burying on free standing
platforms high enough from
animal threats
• Burying in their lodge, hanging
on a platform from the poles or
on the ground in his bed with
household made up
• Burying in ravines and caves
covered with rocks
• Reservation life forced the
Pikunii to use coffins, although
it was a while later they
adopted underground burials
Above: Early
reservation era
burial sitefrom
influenza c.1918
Left: The Great
Sleep, both Walter
McClintock photos

14. Special Topic

15. Tyson Running Wolf, leader of the Horn Society, will be speaking on FB live about the significanceand cultural roles of societies
• Social structure was very intricate and interrelated; there was blood
relationships, bundle ownerships, ceremonial participation, and society
groups
• Society members treat each other like kin and wear similar regalia and
sacred insignias
• Societies took turns policing camp, depending on the chiefs wishes
Kanatso-mitaeks – Crazy Dogs Mat-seeks - Braves iiskinns – Horns
• Braves, Crazy Dogs, Mosquitoes, and the Pigeons did duties around
camp and defended from raiders and enemies
• Bulls were the original war society, composed of the most powerful
men. Likely became extinct due to illnesses from western world
killing the older members of any tribe
• There is at least 10 societies back in the day

16. Reference slide for further information
❑ Slide 1 – photo from lower St. Mary lake
❑2 – photo of Chief Mountain
❑3 – right map, TBP, V1, p. 8
❑4 - photo from TBP, V1, p.10
❑5 – photo from TBP, V1, p. 126
❑6 – map, TBP, V1, p. 143-144 or V2 p. 597
❑7 – image from Montana Indians, p. 13
Message for more information on this book if
desired
❑Slide 8
❑ Top left, from The Sun Came Down, Bullchild
P., p. 234-235
❑ Top right, Piskun Carving, TBP, V1, p. 13
❑ Bottom, TBP
❑9 – image from TBP, V2, p. 330
❑10 – TBP, V2, 329
❑11 – thurough readings start at p. 55
❑12 – image from TBP, V1, p. 30
❑13 – images from TBP, V1, p. 62-63
❑14 – image from TBP, V1, p. 64
❑15 – images from TBP, V1, p. 71 & p. 84
Main: The Blackfoot Papers (TBP), Adolf Hungry-Wolf, Volumes 1-4