The name "Blackfoot" comes from the word "siksika" which means "black foot" and refers to the dark color moccasins the people wore. The U.S. government changed the name to the plural word "Blackfeet" so the plains tribe is called Blackfeet in Montana and Blackfoot in Alberta. The current tribal lands occupy a portion of the peoples' traditional homelands. The Blackfoot language is one of the few indigenous languages with a good chance of survival, in part due to immersion programs and language schools for children. The Blackfoot Nation has three divisions---Siksika, Bloods and Peigans---and four tribes. The Siksika, Blood and Peigan tribes are in southern Alberta. In northwestern Montana, the Blackfeet Nation lives on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation around Browning. Blackfoot's traditional enemies were Nez Perce and Kootenai.
The Kootenai peoples traditionally occupied the Kootenay and Lower Columbia River basins. The name "Kootenay" or "Kutenai" is sometimes translated as "water people" or "deer robes." The Kootenai Nation has seven bands in Montana, Idaho and British Columbia. In Montana, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are on the Flathead Indian Reservation on Flathead Lake. The tribe operates Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana. In southern British Columbia, there are five Kootenai bands: the Lower Kootenai Band in Creston, St. Mary's Band in Cranbrook, Columbia Lake Band in Windermere, Shuswap Band in Invermere and Tobacco Plains Band in Grasmere. The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho at Bonner's Ferry, Idaho is the seventh band of the Kootenai Nation.
The Great Sioux Nation was widespread and powerful and included peoples of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota tribes. The Lakota branched off to form their own nations. The Fort Peck Reservation in Montana is now home to the Assiniboine and Sioux nations, each of which has many bands and divisions. Sioux divisions and tribes include the Sisseton/Wahpeton, Yantonais, Teton Hunkpapa, Yankton, Yanktonia, Hunkpapa, Cuthead and Oglala. Assiniboine bands include the Canoe Paddler and Red Button bands.
The Assiniboine occupied the area around present-day Fort Peck, Montana. They followed bison herds and other game throughout an extensive area including parts of what are now Alberta and Montana. People of the Nakoda or Stoney Nation in Alberta are also known as Assiniboine. The name "Stoney" may be a translation of an Ojibwa word that refers to "people that cook with hot stones." They traditionally placed hot stones in water to heat it. The Nakoda broke from the main Sioux tribe and moved north into what is now the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in southern Alberta.
