To understand early American history, we need to investigate and understand North America as an Indigenous space. A place where Native American populations, politics, religion, and trade networks prevailed for centuries before and after the arrival of Europeans and enslaved Africans.
In this episode, we travel into the heart of the North American continent to explore the life, history and culture of the Blackfeet People with Rosalyn LaPier, a University of Montana professor, historian, ethnobotanist, and award-winning Indigenous writer. Rosalyn is a member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and a member of the Métis, one of the three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.
Episode Summary
Rosalyn LaPier is a member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana and a member of the Métis, one of the three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada. She’s also a University of Montana professor, historian, ethnobotanist, and award-winning Indigenous writer who joins us to investigate the life, history, and culture of the Blackfeet People.
During our exploration, Rosalyn reveals the location of traditional Blackfeet homelands and information about how the Blackfeet lived on their lands during the early American period; Blackfeet environmental knowledge and how the Blackfeet continue to transfer this tribal knowledge from one generation to the next; And, details about the Blackfoot Confederacy and its diplomacy and details about Blackfoot cosmology and religion.
What You’ll Discover
- History of the Blackfeet people in North America
- Location of Blackfeet traditional homelands
- Seasons of the Blackfeet people
- Semi-sedentary living on Blackfeet homelands
- How the Blackfeet lived in winter villages
- How the Blackfeet hunted and gathered during non-winter months
- Blackfeet environmental knowledge
- Landscape and geography of the northern great plains
- Ethnobotany and ethnobotanical training
- Transferring tribal knowledge from one generation to the nex
- Blackfoot Confederacy
- Supernatural and spiritual world of the Blackfeet
- Blackfeet cosmology
- Blackfeet encounters with Europeans & Euro-Americans
- Blackfoot diplomacy
- The preservation of the Blackfoot and other Indigenous languages
Links to People, Places, and Publications
Sponsor Links
- Omohundro Institute
- Robert Parkinson’s Thirteen Clocks: How Race United the Colonies and Made the Declaration of Independence
Support Ben Franklin’s World
Complementary Episodes
- Episode 286: Native American Sovereignty
- Episode 290: The World of the Wampanoag: Before 1620
- Episode 291: The World of the Wampanoag: 1620 and Beyond
- Episode 301: From Inoculation to Vaccination, Part 1
- Episode 302: From Inoculation to Vaccination, Part 2
Time Warp Question
In your opinion, what might the history of the Blackfeet people look like if the United States and Canada had not emerged as an independent nations?
Questions, Comments, Suggestions
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The post Episode 310: History of the Blackfeet appeared first on Ben Franklin's World.