The Blackfeet (Blackfoot) are a confederacy of three related north American Indian tribes of the Algonquin family: the Siksika, Kainah and Piegan. The Blackfeet got their name after separating from the Kena Indians and migrating to the area north of the Saskatchewan River in Alberta, Canada south to the headwater of the Missouri River in Montana, USA. Research Blackfeet
The Crees are a North American Indian tribe of Algonquin stock and speech. They were divided into the Thickwood or Swampy Crees inhabiting the region between Hudson Bay and Lake Winnipeg; and the Plain or Prairie Crees who occupied the open country towards the Rocky Mountains. Traditionally they were at war with the Blackfoot Indians, but with the coming of the Europeans became fur traders trading furs with the Hudson Bay Company. Research Crees
In Blackfoot mythology, Poia was the son of the Morning Star and the mortal woman Soatsaki. The Morning Star took Soatsaki to the court of his father the Sun in Heaven, hoping to grant her immortality. But she preferred Earth to Heaven and the Sun, insulted, sent her back to Earth to bear her son, and then let her die. The child was born with a port-wine birthmark- hence his name - and grew up with the Blackfoot people. He asked to marry the chiefs daughter, but was rejected as ' blemished'. He set out to find his grandfather the Sun and ask for help, leaving the land and walking West across the sea on the path made by the Sun's reflection on the water. In Heaven he rescued his father Morning Star from seven birds of darkness, and the Sun rewarded him by removing his birthmark. He hurried down to Earth, along the Milky Way, and took his mortal beloved back into Heaven just as his father had fetched his mother there long before. Research Poia
A tepee (tipi) is a conical tent made of buffalo skin and more recently canvas stretched across a frame of poles fastened together at the top. Tepees are used by High Plains nomadic Indians of North America, such as the Blackfoot, Ojibwa and also Stoney Indians of Alberta, Canada. Research Tepee
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Abbreviations
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