By: Madyson, Meaghan, Trina, Louise, Kenzie and Kayla
1. earthbeings, abovebeings, and the waterbeings,were all citizens represented in bundles are living with effect of these events
2. This story has a beginning of over 100 years ago
3. In the nineteenth century, historical traumas such as disease, famine and massacre made life difficult for the Siksikaitapiiksi people
4. In the 1837 epidemic, over one-half of the people died
5.one-third to one-quater of people perished during each outbreak
6. At the confluence of Na'a'pi Otisii' tabtaan and Iissta'ai'tahaan, so many Kainai perished, leaving the site with the name Akai'nisskoo or many dead
7. A Tipi is marked by a break in the circle of stones, and a Death Lodge has a completed stone circle
8. Historical and ethnographic counts written made famine sound like a natural part of life, these accounts were written by Naapiikeaikso
9. The Buffalo's "vanishing" had effect on all these prairie people: Blackfoot, Cree, Grosventre,Crow
10. The wolves, vultures, grizzly bears, lost their source of food when the buffalo were gone, and had to abandon the prairie
11.The decimation of the bison had a domino effect
12. Asinaa,Niitsinaa,Atsiina,Issapo,Kai'spa, started to starve from no bison left in their territories
13. Events of January 23rd, 1870, The United States Calvary attacked the Siksikaitapiiksi camp. Over 300 unarmed women, children and old men were slaughtered
14. The plaque in present day Lethbridge which commemorates, last big battle between the Asinaa and Siksikaitapiiksi
15. The battle scene in Lethbridge and the "Baker massacre" in Montana are both sites of historical trauma
16. In 1873, a new civilian police force formed, call the Northwest Mounted Police
17.Forces such as disease, starvation,warfare, and whiskey were in play by 1877
18. Red Crow, Crawfoot and others made a treaty with the dominion of Canada
19. A result of Treaty 7 the Kainaa, Piikani, and the Siksika were confined to reserves
20. Boundaries of the reserves were similar to the Berlin Wall
21. Residential school children were seperated from their families, community, and language
A Story
-All citizens of Alberta are living with
the effects of these events.
-This story is important for everyone
living in present day Alberta.
-The story needs to be told, it is too
important to forget.
-Disease, famine and massacre in the
nineteenth century made if almost impossible for the Siksikaitapiiksi means of
knowledge transfer to remain intact.
-Even prior to contact with the
Europeans, there was out breaks of small pox. Oral accounts estimate one
quarter to one third of the people perished with each outbreak.
-Over one half of the people died in the
1837 epidemic alone.
-At the confluence of Oldman River and
St. Mary’s River, near present day Lethbridge so many Káinai perished that the
site was called Akáii’nisskoo (many deaths).
-When smallpox killed everyone inside a
tipi they would sew shut the door, this warned people approaching of the
contagious death within.
-Where the death lodges once stood are
now a series of tipi rings, a circle of stones that would have held the tipi in
place. A door is usually represented by a break in the circle facing east, in
the death lodge, the entrance was closed so the stone circle is complete.
-Such circles can be found all over
Southern Alberta. They memorialize not only the massive death but also the effects
of the epidemics on the people.
-The decimation of a people can sound
like an inevitable results of natural events. This was especially true for the
Niitsitapiiksi.
-Historical and ethnographic accounts
written by Náápiikoaiksi almost normalizes famine. As if it was natural part of
life for “primitive nomadic” people, subsisting on a single food source.
-Sayings such as the buffalo vanished or
disappeared are part of everyday English discourse.
-The buffalo were massacred without
regard for the effect on the prairie peoples.
-The loss of the buffalo was devastating
for the people, the ecosystem and landscape of the entire Great Plains was
irrevocably altered.
-Wolves, vultures and grizzly bear’s
lost their food source and abandoned the prairies because there was no food for
them to eat.
-By the 1870’s the only remaining bison
herds were the few in kitáóowahsinnoon (the land which nourishes us).
-Blackfoot soon found themselves under
great pressure to protect the land and the bison from other First Nations who
were starving because there were no more bison.
-Blackfoot now has to fight with former
allies such as the Cree.
-While other First Nations wanted access
to the last remaining bison herds, the settler government-the new Dominion of
Canada in Alberta and the United States government in Montana-wanted the land
and dominion over it.
-The events of January 23,1870 live on
in the collective memory of the Siksikáitapiiksi. The United States Calvary
attacked the camp and slaughtered over 300 unarmed women, children and old men.
-The survivors fled north and took
refuge on the Canadian side of the 49th parallel, isskskáakssin.
-The Cree headed west to Blackfoot
territory seeking both revenge for previous wrongs and access to the remaining
bison.
-Even with advantage of surprise,
hundreds of Cree were killed because of the combined Bloods, North Peigan and
Blackfeet allowed the Blackfoot to overwhelm their attackers.
-There is a plaque, in the river bottom
of present day Lethbridge, which commemorates the last big battle between the
Blackfoot and the Cree.
-The battle scene in Lethbridge and the
“Baker Massacre” on the Bear in Montana are both sites of historical trauma.
-Blackfoot kept fur traders and
missionaries at bay as long as they could.
-American traders eventually won access
to trades with the Blackfoot. This upset the Hudson’s Bay Company who believed
their charter gave them a monopoly on trade with the Blackfoot.
-The Northwest Mounted Police was supposed to
suppress illegal whiskey trade. The peoples stories say otherwise.
-Dan Weasel Moccasin recounted how the
NWMP would ride up to the Blackfoot camps with booze hidden in their saddle
bags, and approach women, initiating a different kind of trade than the one
they were there to halt.
-In 1877, when Crow and Crowfoot and
other leaders made treaty with the Dominion of Canada. This resulted in
reserves, pieces of land that were minuscule in comparison to the traditional
territory.
-Blackfoot do not believe the true
spirit and intent of the treaty discussions and agreements were honored. The
size of the reserves is only one of the many outstanding issues from the
original treaties.
-The people and their knowledge were
incarcerated within the boundaries of reserves, separated from the kitáówahsinnon.
-The reserve boundaries changed the
relationships between the Blackfoot and the settler peoples.
-The government and churches built and
operated residential schools, which changed the children’s lives.
-The experience of the residential
schools severed the people of their memory of their land and their identity.
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