Blackfoot Religion

The Blackfeet are a tribe of Native Americans who currently live in Montana and Alberta. They lived northwest of the Great Lakes and are a part of the Plains Indian culture. In Blackfeet mythology, the supernatural world is dominated by the sun (Nah-too-si) which is equated, according to some anthropologists, with the creator of the earth and everything in the universe (Apistotoke). Nah-too-si is sometimes personified by the mystical Napi, or Old Man who was reported to have been sent by the Nah-too-si to teach people how to live a sinless life patterned on that of he and his wife, Ksah-koom-aukie (Earth Woman). A-pi-su'-ahts (early riser) was the only surviving child of the sun and the moon. The rest of their offspring were attacked and killed by pelicans. Napi is also beleived to have given the Blackfoot visions and, by extension, music. The numbers four and seven, the cardinal directions, and six principle points with their center are important in Blackfoot mythology. Communication is established between the supernatural world and the Blackfeet through visions of the guardian spirits. In tandem with these visions, songs and ceremonies may be performed. The physical world is regarded as a pale shadow of the spiritual dimension, which is true reality. The Blackfoot people designate themselves as the Real People, in contrast to those who do not possess the ability to communicate with the spirit world. Ceremonies include the Sun Dance, called Medicine Lodge by the Blackfoot in English, in which sacrifices would be made to the sun. A human woman named Feather-woman fell in love with Morning Star, the child of the sun and the moon. After plucking a sacred turnip, she and her half-divine son were banished from the Sky-Country. After Feather-woman died, her son Poïa makes his way back to Sky-Country. His grandparents, sun and moon, extended mercy to him, so he honored them by performing the Sun Dance once a year. Sacrifices ranged from offering sweat obtained through the use of sweat lodges to offerings of flesh. Men from the tribe would rip off ropes tied to their skin as sacrifices to the sun. Minor deities and personifications of nature and animals are placed into three catagories: Above Persons, Ground Persons, and Under Water Persons. Deities such as Thunder, Wind Maker, and Cold Maker were worshipped to influence desired changes in the natural realm. In Blackfoot mythology, there are legends surrounding the origins of everything. Amskapipikuni (from whom a band of the Blackfoot Confederacy takes its name) is honored as the inventor of tobacco and as first to kill a person in warfare. Napi, personification of the sun, is featured in legends describing the origin of the wind. Apistotoke is the creator god, also known as the Great Spirit. Although described as a male, Apistotoke has no physical body. Apistotoke created the first Sspommitapiiksi (Sky Beings), Nah-too-si (the sun) to provide light and warmth, Nah-too-si's wife Ksah-koom-aukie (the moon) and their children (the stars). Apistotoke then created Napi (Old Man), first man and demigod who shaped the world and created the rest of mankind. Napi was assisted by his wife Kipitaakii (Old Lady). The Blackfoot believe that the world was once covered with water, so Napi sent many different animals down to the bottom of the water to fetch mud. The water was so deep that the animals were unable to do this. Finally, one animal (some stories say a muskrat and others say a duck), brought a lump of mud up from the deep. Napi used it to create humans and the earth. Historically, one of the primary sources of food and other needs for the Blackfoot was the American Bison, or buffalo. The ceremonial Buffalo Dance commemorates this reliance.