Crowfoot The First Nations of the plains were a diverse and powerful collection of Tribes that were often at war with one another. Wars over territory, the best hunting areas, the theft of horses, and many other grievances kept the borders of various nations constantly in flux. One of the most powerful groups were the Blackfoot Confederacy of southern Alberta and northern Montana. The Confederacy was formed by three nations, the Siksika or Blackfoot, Piikani or Piegan, and the Kainai or Blood Nation. The Piegans are further separated into their Canadian and American counterparts with the Northern Piegan or Pikani and the Southern Piegan known as Piikuni. Later, they allied with the Tsuut'ina or Sarcee nation of Alberta, and the Atsina or Gros Ventre's from Montana. Early life on the plains was centred around the bison. European contact across the American West changed the life of the Plains Indian dramatically. As horses and guns made their first appearances in the 17th and 18th centuries, those nations with larger quantities of each could alter the balance of power between tribes. The Blackfoot Confederacy became masters of the horse and gun and used this to control large areas of southern Alberta and northern Montana. Their territory stretched from the North Saskatchewan River to the Yellowstone in Montana. East to west, they occupied areas from the Great Sand Hills in Saskatchewan to the Continental Divide. Their alliance became incredibly powerful, but they were often at war with the First Nations that surrounded their lands. The Blackfeet also controlled the trade of guns to their enemies on the British Columbia side of the Continental Divide.  Back in Episode 53, I shared the stories of David Thompson trading with the Kootenay or Ktunaxa in British Columbia and running for his life when the Piegans discovered he was violating their prohibition of trading guns. You can listen to that story at www.MountainNaturePodcast.com/ep053. Into this landscape was born one of the most influential leaders of the Blackfeet, a man that would later take the name of Crowfoot and who would be one of their greatest leaders at a time when they needed him most. Hugh Dempsey, in his book Crowfoot, offers an intimate glimpse into the world of this amazing leader. The year was 1830. The buffalo were still plentiful on the plains, and while smallpox had decimated the Cree of eastern Saskatchewan, it was still unknown to the Blackfoot Nation. In  a tipi somewhere in the Piegan nation, a Woman known as "Attacked Towards Home", the wife of Piegan warrior "Packs a Knife", gave birth to a healthy little boy they named "Shot Close." In these First Nations, a child may have several names throughout their life as major events prompted a new identity. Shot Close was simply the childhood name of Crowfoot. Names in Blackfoot culture were transient affairs. They changed with maturity, experience, and significant accomplishments. They were family possessions and had value. Great names could only be claimed by someone achieving something worthy of claiming the name. At this time, white men were of little concern to the Confederacy. They avoided the territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy, especially since David Thompson had narrowly escaped after trading with the Kootenay on the west side of the Divide. Additionally, a member of Lewis and Clark's expedition had killed a Blackfoot and so this also led them to exclude white men from their territory. At the same time, the Blackfoot did want the guns and horses that trade with the whites provided. And unlike most of the other native groups, the fact that the Blackfoot had plentiful bison meat to trade meant that the whites didn't try to coax them into trapping as had been done to many other nations. Crowfoot's father died when he was still an infant after joining a raid on the Crow Nation of Montana.