The Blackfeet by Theresa Jensen Lacey

	The Blackfeet Nation is divided into three tribes: the Siksikas, Bloods (or Kainahs), and the Piegans. In pre-reservation days, they roamed the northwestern part of the Great Plains, and for centuries lives hunting buffalo and gathering wild edible and medicinal plants. In the mid-1700s they were a military power in the area due to their acquisition of horses. When Americans and British tried to take their lands, the Blackfeet reacted aggressively. Then in the 1840s, white settlers forged west via the Oregon Trail, and when gold was discovered in the Rockies in the 1850s, the Blackfeet way of life was severely disrupted. Railroads, missionaries who wanted to make the Indians more like white people, smallpox, the demise of the buffalo herds, and other influences threatened to annihilate the Blackfeet National altogether. In the late 1880s, the tribes were moved to reserves in Alberta (Canada) and Montana, where they continue to fight "civilized" problems such as poverty, forced assimilation, and alcoholism. Beginning in the 1960s, however, a cultural renewal asserted itself. With it came alcoholism-prevention programs, community revival projects, improved housing, and the creation of a Blackfeet dictionary. Their annual powwow is widely attended, crafts industries are thriving, and the Blackfeet People are once again beginning to as well.
I wrote this book because I wanted to write more about Native American history, contacted the publisher and eventually they agreed to let me write this book. This, and THE PAWNEE, were the result of that relationship. Writing this book was a humbling experience for me, as I had to work to gain the trust of the people on the reserves before I felt I could learn enough about them to write about their history. I spent nearly a year researching everything I could about the Nation, including subscribing to their tribal newspapers. I also signed the contract to write this, my first nonfiction book, shortly after giving birth to my first child, who was six weeks old at the time I started writing the book! There are no dull moments in a writer's life. This book has been well reviewed by such notable publications as THE HORN BOOK and PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, among others.
"THE BLACKFEET has just been newly revised and updated. This newest release (Fall 2005) is complete with sidebars in the previous chapters and a new chapter at the end to bring the book current. In Creating the newest edition, I had the pleasure of re-interviewing some of the tribespeople I had met in the first edition's research, and felt as though I was at home again, in speaking with them." You can purchase this book through www.chelseahouse.com or at your local bookstore. THE BLACKFEET is available in paperback and hardcover. ISBN# 0-7910-1681-1 (hardcover) 0-7910-2491-1 (pbk)