The Blackfoot Nation

As promised four months ago (Sept. 30th, 2007), I will now tell you of my visit to the Siksika Nation (Siksika meaning "Blackfoot") in Alberta, Canada. Driving from Calgary toward Medicine Hat, I saw a sign for the Nation and felt I needed to turn. I drove a few kilometers through rolling hills dotted with homes of different sizes until I saw a large, modern rotunda building on a hill. A brilliantly painted teepee stood on a higher hill next to it. A sign told me this was the Nation's cultural center. I pulled into the parking lot and was greeted by a Siksika man sitting outside smoking. I walked inside and paid the $10 donation. After that, I was immersed for hours in the history of a tribe whose lands once stretched from Edmonton, Alberta in the north to the Yellowstone River in Montana.

The center:


Nobody lives in teepees anymore (except hippies), but they look cool:


After experiencing the inside of the center, I walked out the back down a long path into the woods.


The path led down into a valley that had been used for hundreds of years as a meeting place for the tribe. I was completely alone.




My time on the Siksika Nation was quiet and powerful. I gained a new understanding of a fiercely independent tribe of people that to this day are living with and preserving the memories, traditions and ghosts of their history. I had never experienced anything like it.



More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfoot