WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.220 Welcome back to another deep dive and a huge 00:00:02.220 --> 00:00:04.360 welcome to you, the learner. I am really excited 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:07.339 you are joining us today because when you picture 00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:10.199 the history of the North American Great Plains, 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:13.839 it is so incredibly easy to just get locked into 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.960 this like specific frozen in time image, you 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.440 know. Oh, absolutely. The classic cinematic snapshot. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.140 Right. The warrior on horseback eagle feather 00:00:22.140 --> 00:00:25.000 headdress blowing in the wind, just gazing out 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:29.579 over this endless sea of bison. It feels eternal. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:31.980 Like, it was always exactly that way and was 00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:34.520 destined to remain that way forever. Yeah. But 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:37.880 the reality of that specific iconic era is that 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:40.240 it was actually surprisingly brief. I mean, the 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.939 journey to reach that apex was really a masterclass 00:00:42.939 --> 00:00:45.640 in massive, rapid human adaptation. Yeah, it 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:47.020 really was. And, you know, understanding the 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:49.159 Blackfoot Confederacy, the Nititapi, or the original 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:51.820 people, it shows us how a single society can 00:00:51.820 --> 00:00:53.520 completely reinvent itself. I mean, they went 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.340 through unprecedented technological shifts, navigated 00:00:56.340 --> 00:00:59.079 these just apocalyptic tragedies, and confronted 00:00:59.179 --> 00:01:01.060 modern economic challenges, all while keeping 00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:03.859 their core identity entirely intact. And that 00:01:03.859 --> 00:01:06.900 is exactly our mission today. We are diving into 00:01:06.900 --> 00:01:09.900 a really comprehensive Wikipedia article on the 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:13.989 Blackfoot Confederacy bringing together centuries 00:01:13.989 --> 00:01:17.510 of history, geopolitics, ethnobotany, and some 00:01:17.510 --> 00:01:20.250 really complex mythology all into one place. 00:01:20.370 --> 00:01:22.390 It is a massive amount of source material to 00:01:22.390 --> 00:01:24.569 cover. It is. OK, let's unpack this because the 00:01:24.569 --> 00:01:27.049 actual story completely shatters that Hollywood 00:01:27.049 --> 00:01:29.930 stereotype of the timeless plains Indian. Their 00:01:29.930 --> 00:01:33.549 history is relentlessly dynamic, starting with 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:36.030 a geographic origin that honestly completely 00:01:36.030 --> 00:01:38.030 surprised me. I mean, they didn't actually originate 00:01:38.030 --> 00:01:40.329 on the Great Plains. No, they didn't. They actually 00:01:40.329 --> 00:01:43.480 began as a forest dwelling people. Wait, really? 00:01:43.819 --> 00:01:46.019 Forests? Yeah, around the year 1200, the Blackfoot 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:48.599 were living in the northeastern woodlands, so 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:50.680 roughly around the modern border of Canada and 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:53.379 Maine. Wow, that is far east. Right. And as they 00:01:53.379 --> 00:01:56.299 began this slow generational migration westward, 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:58.519 moving past the Great Lakes, their logistics 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:00.659 were entirely pedestrian. I mean, they traveled 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:03.319 purely on foot. Just walking all that way. Exactly. 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:06.859 They utilized these A -shaped sleds called travois, 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.060 and they were pulled by dogs. And you want to 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:11.199 think about it, moving an entire society, every 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:13.900 piece of shelter. every winter provision, every 00:02:13.900 --> 00:02:17.620 child, all at the walking pace of a dog, it dictates 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:21.000 a very specific, limited type of material culture. 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:23.740 Because you simply cannot accumulate more than 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:27.539 a dog can actually drag behind it. logistical 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:29.699 bottleneck. But that bottleneck completely vanished 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:32.979 around 1730, right? Because they encountered 00:02:32.979 --> 00:02:34.819 the Shoshone and were introduced to the horse, 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:38.159 which the Blackfoot called Monokamita or elk 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:40.620 dogs. Elk dogs, yeah. And acquiring the horse 00:02:40.620 --> 00:02:43.560 wasn't just like getting a new pet or a minor 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.060 upgrade in transportation. I was thinking about 00:02:46.060 --> 00:02:49.860 this and it was the equivalent of a society simultaneously 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:52.400 inventing cars, cargo trucks, and the internet 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.659 all at exactly the same time. The spatial reality 00:02:55.659 --> 00:02:58.120 of their world just shrank overnight while their 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:01.300 geopolitical reach absolutely exploded. What's 00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:03.419 fascinating here is how rapidly this singular 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:06.900 piece of technology rewired their entire socioeconomic 00:03:06.900 --> 00:03:09.580 system. Rewired to how exactly? Well a horse 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:11.840 carries vastly more weight than a dog obviously 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:14.680 and it does it at exponentially higher speeds 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:18.129 over much greater distances. So this newfound 00:03:18.129 --> 00:03:21.370 logistical supremacy allowed the Blackfoot to 00:03:21.370 --> 00:03:24.409 expand their territory aggressively. They pushed 00:03:24.409 --> 00:03:27.210 out competitors and secured their status as the 00:03:27.210 --> 00:03:29.849 dominant power, often referred to as the Lords 00:03:29.849 --> 00:03:32.990 of the Plains. Lords of the Plains. That is a 00:03:32.990 --> 00:03:35.949 heavy title. It is. But the horse also fundamentally 00:03:35.949 --> 00:03:38.310 altered their conceptualization of wealth. Right. 00:03:38.389 --> 00:03:40.590 Because horses became the undeniable standard 00:03:40.590 --> 00:03:43.090 of value. You traded with them. You compensated 00:03:43.090 --> 00:03:46.699 medicine men with them. But looking at the mechanics 00:03:46.699 --> 00:03:49.379 of their society, their definition of wealth 00:03:49.379 --> 00:03:52.419 operated on a completely inverted logic compared 00:03:52.419 --> 00:03:56.039 to, say, modern capitalism. Oh, totally inverted. 00:03:56.419 --> 00:03:58.539 They weren't hoarding these animals to build 00:03:58.539 --> 00:04:01.879 massive personal estates. So how did their view 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:04.699 of wealth actually function if accumulation wasn't 00:04:04.699 --> 00:04:07.939 the end goal? Think about it. In a nomadic society, 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:10.750 physical hoarding is a literal burden. You have 00:04:10.750 --> 00:04:13.150 to feed it, defend it, and physically move it 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:14.969 every time you relocate. Oh, that makes sense. 00:04:15.069 --> 00:04:18.649 It becomes a liability. Exactly. So true wealth 00:04:18.649 --> 00:04:23.050 became intangible. It became social credit. An 00:04:23.050 --> 00:04:25.389 individual's prestige was judged by how many 00:04:25.389 --> 00:04:28.480 horses they could afford to give away. not keep. 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:31.480 That is such a wild concept to wrap our modern 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.079 heads around. It really is. Gifting horses to 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:36.319 those you owed a debt to or to individuals in 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:38.639 the community who just lacked resources. That 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:41.480 was the ultimate display of power. The primary 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:44.939 value of property was its distribution. So it 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:47.459 was almost like a built -in charity system. Basically, 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:50.379 yeah. This mechanism engineered a highly resilient 00:04:50.379 --> 00:04:53.100 social safety net, ensuring that the community's 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:55.680 overall baseline of survival was elevated by 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.319 its most successful hunters. And that sheer logistical 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:00.759 power, combined with that interconnected safety 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:02.899 net, didn't just change their social structure. 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:05.699 It fully unlocked their mastery over the apex 00:05:05.699 --> 00:05:08.139 resource of the plains. I mean, everything revolved 00:05:08.139 --> 00:05:10.480 around the American bison. Everything. The bison 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.910 was their entire world. Even before the horse, 00:05:13.009 --> 00:05:16.250 they were executing brilliant tactical maneuvers. 00:05:16.689 --> 00:05:18.670 The sources mentioned them draping themselves 00:05:18.670 --> 00:05:21.850 in wolf skins to camouflage their approach or 00:05:21.850 --> 00:05:25.009 utilizing these complex buffalo jumps to literally 00:05:25.009 --> 00:05:28.050 drive herds into V -shaped pens and over clips, 00:05:28.350 --> 00:05:31.110 which is just brilliant use of natural topography. 00:05:31.269 --> 00:05:34.310 It's incredibly smart. The bison dictated their 00:05:34.310 --> 00:05:37.300 material reality. Every element of the animal 00:05:37.300 --> 00:05:39.639 was engineered into their survival. Nothing went 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:42.600 to waste. Not a thing. The meat was preserved 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:45.339 as jerky, or they mixed it with crushed berries 00:05:45.339 --> 00:05:47.920 to create pemmican, which was this high -calorie 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.319 survival ration that was absolutely essential 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:52.879 for enduring those brutal, treeless winters on 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.500 the plains. And they used the hides, too, obviously. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:57.459 Oh, yeah. Hides were tanned for their teepees 00:05:57.459 --> 00:05:59.800 and winter clothing. Bones were milled into needles 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:02.540 and tools. They even utilized dried bison dung 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:04.800 for fuel for their fires on the open steppe. 00:06:05.069 --> 00:06:07.610 processed the stomachs and bladders into vital 00:06:07.610 --> 00:06:10.569 liquid storage containers. The bison was basically 00:06:10.569 --> 00:06:12.629 an all -encompassing biological supply chain. 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:15.829 And their reliance on that specific supply chain 00:06:15.829 --> 00:06:18.769 dictated a highly fluid social structure. They 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:22.329 lived in nomadic bands of about 10 to 30 lodges, 00:06:22.569 --> 00:06:26.910 meaning roughly 80 to 240 people. But wait, I 00:06:26.910 --> 00:06:28.750 really have to push back on this structural setup 00:06:28.750 --> 00:06:30.649 for a second. OK, go ahead. Because the text 00:06:30.649 --> 00:06:32.889 says band membership was based purely on where 00:06:32.889 --> 00:06:36.149 you lived, right? Not on strict kinship. And 00:06:36.149 --> 00:06:38.110 people could literally just pack up their lodge 00:06:38.110 --> 00:06:40.529 and leave if they disliked a leader's decision 00:06:40.529 --> 00:06:42.649 making. That's right. It was very flexible. So 00:06:42.649 --> 00:06:45.930 how did the society not just completely fracture 00:06:45.930 --> 00:06:49.750 into 1 ,000 disconnected, squabbling microfactions? 00:06:49.870 --> 00:06:52.589 I mean, where is the institutional glue holding 00:06:52.589 --> 00:06:55.529 this Confederacy together? That is a great question. 00:06:55.949 --> 00:06:58.410 The glue was their seasonal rhythm, which balanced 00:06:58.410 --> 00:07:00.670 those exact centrifugal forces you're talking 00:07:00.670 --> 00:07:02.649 about. Seasonal rhythm? Yeah, the harsh plains 00:07:02.649 --> 00:07:05.449 winter acts as a natural dispersant. Bands had 00:07:05.449 --> 00:07:08.250 to split up and seek shelter in isolated, wooded 00:07:08.250 --> 00:07:10.730 river valleys. If they stayed together, they'd 00:07:10.730 --> 00:07:12.730 just deplete the local game and fire wood way 00:07:12.730 --> 00:07:15.350 too fast. Ah, so they had to scatter to survive 00:07:15.350 --> 00:07:19.100 the cold. Exactly. But summer acted as a powerful 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:22.259 centripetal force. When the weather warmed up 00:07:22.259 --> 00:07:24.800 and the choked cherries ripened, the disparate 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:27.579 decentralized bands all converged. They all came 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:30.360 back together? They did. They reunited for massive 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:33.000 communal bison hunts, which obviously required 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.620 intense coordination. And critically, they came 00:07:35.620 --> 00:07:38.360 together for the Okan, the Sundance. The Sundance? 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:41.519 Yes. These massive summer aggregations served 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.279 as the civic and spiritual engine of the Confederacy. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:47.480 It was the annual reminder that despite months 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:50.259 of winter isolation and moving around, they were 00:07:50.259 --> 00:07:53.399 one cohesive, powerful nation. That dynamic cycle 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:56.379 created a highly adaptable, really dominant society 00:07:56.379 --> 00:07:59.579 operating at its absolute peak. But that geopolitical 00:07:59.579 --> 00:08:01.839 dominance was about to collide violently with 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:04.019 American and European expansion westward. And 00:08:04.019 --> 00:08:06.439 it was a brutal collision. The earliest recorded 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.180 friction points started around 1806 with the 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:11.600 Lewis and Clark expedition. And the sources say 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:13.720 that resulted in a skirmish and the death of 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:16.160 a Blackfoot warrior, which instantly set a baseline 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:19.000 of deep mistrust. Yeah, that mistrust quickly 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:21.720 escalated. Foreign trappers began encroaching 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:25.079 on Blackfoot territory, extracting the very resources 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:27.259 the Nitsitapi relied on. They were just taking 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:30.279 their livelihood. Exactly. The Blackfoot viewed 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.679 this not as scientific exploration, but as an 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.470 active economic invasion. and they responded 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:39.250 with severe military deterrence. Here's where 00:08:39.250 --> 00:08:42.250 it gets really interesting, looking at how fiercely 00:08:42.250 --> 00:08:44.970 they defended that territory. There's this story 00:08:44.970 --> 00:08:48.009 from 1809 about John Coulter. He was a former 00:08:48.009 --> 00:08:50.529 member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and 00:08:50.529 --> 00:08:53.529 he got caught trapping on their land. Oh, Coulter's 00:08:53.529 --> 00:08:56.850 run. Yes. It reads like an intense Hollywood 00:08:56.850 --> 00:08:59.350 survival thriller. The Blackfoot stripped him 00:08:59.350 --> 00:09:01.990 naked, took all his weapons, gave him a brief 00:09:01.990 --> 00:09:04.429 head start, and then initiated a pursuit with 00:09:04.429 --> 00:09:06.769 hundreds of mounted warriors. Just a terrifying 00:09:06.769 --> 00:09:09.470 scenario. Right. And Coulter survived by running 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:12.389 five miles, diving into a river, and hiding beneath 00:09:12.389 --> 00:09:15.330 a beaver dam and driftwood until nightfall. Then 00:09:15.330 --> 00:09:17.529 he trekked 300 miles barefoot to the nearest 00:09:17.529 --> 00:09:20.669 fort. It's a legendary story. It perfectly illustrates 00:09:20.669 --> 00:09:23.350 the iron grip the Blackfoot maintained over their 00:09:23.350 --> 00:09:26.649 borders. But as intense as those territorial 00:09:26.649 --> 00:09:29.590 clashes were, military deterrence couldn't stop 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:31.570 the actual existential threat that was moving 00:09:31.570 --> 00:09:34.250 up the rivers. No, it couldn't, because the true 00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:37.129 catalyst for collapse was biological. The diseases? 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:41.289 Yeah. In 1837, the American Fur Company steamboat, 00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:44.549 the St. Peters, traveled upriver carrying passengers 00:09:44.549 --> 00:09:46.649 infected with smallpox. And they knew it was 00:09:46.649 --> 00:09:49.629 on board, right? They did. But despite the glaring 00:09:49.629 --> 00:09:52.350 biological risk, the company dispatched smaller 00:09:52.350 --> 00:09:54.990 supply vessels to trading posts deeply embedded 00:09:54.990 --> 00:09:57.669 within Blackfoot territory anyway. That is just 00:09:57.669 --> 00:10:00.129 negligent. It was devastating. The pathogen's 00:10:00.129 --> 00:10:02.649 impact was absolute devastation. An estimated 00:10:02.649 --> 00:10:06.769 6 ,000 Nitsitapi perished. Six thousand. That's 00:10:06.769 --> 00:10:09.549 an unfathomable loss for a community that size. 00:10:09.710 --> 00:10:12.110 It really is. And smallpox doesn't just reduce 00:10:12.110 --> 00:10:15.029 population numbers across the board. It disproportionately 00:10:15.029 --> 00:10:16.970 targets the elders. Oh, because their immune 00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:19.649 systems are weaker. Exactly. And when a society 00:10:19.649 --> 00:10:22.769 relies on oral tradition, losing the elders means 00:10:22.769 --> 00:10:25.690 losing the libraries. The institutional memory, 00:10:26.070 --> 00:10:28.029 the religious rights, the geographic knowledge, 00:10:28.409 --> 00:10:31.090 all of it is just wiped out in a matter of weeks. 00:10:31.289 --> 00:10:33.830 and that biological devastation weakened their 00:10:33.830 --> 00:10:36.690 foundational structure right as settler encroachment 00:10:36.690 --> 00:10:40.029 intensified, which led to a cascade of escalating 00:10:40.029 --> 00:10:42.590 violence. And we have to report on this next 00:10:42.590 --> 00:10:45.169 part impartially, just based on the historical 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:47.269 records in the source. Right, it's important 00:10:47.269 --> 00:10:50.929 to look at the facts. On January 23, 1870, this 00:10:50.929 --> 00:10:54.110 friction culminated in the Marias Massacre. The 00:10:54.110 --> 00:10:56.690 preceding events involved a young pagan warrior 00:10:56.690 --> 00:10:59.490 named Owl Child who killed an American rancher 00:10:59.490 --> 00:11:02.409 named Malcolm Clark following a history of violent 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:04.950 personal disputes. So the U .S. Army got involved. 00:11:05.029 --> 00:11:07.710 Yeah, the Army dispatched a cavalry unit under 00:11:07.710 --> 00:11:10.649 Major Eugene Baker to locate Owl Child's camp. 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:12.830 But the intelligence guiding the cavalry was 00:11:12.830 --> 00:11:15.899 flawed. They ended up surrounding the wrong encampment 00:11:15.899 --> 00:11:18.620 entirely. It was a friendly pagan camp. And the 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:20.519 chief of that camp tried to stop it, didn't he? 00:11:20.700 --> 00:11:24.700 He did. The camp's chief, Heavy Runner, walked 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:27.200 out toward the approaching soldiers holding a 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:29.600 safe conduct paper trying to demonstrate their 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:32.759 peaceful status. But it didn't work? No. An army 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:36.379 scout named Joe Cobell shot and killed Heavy 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:39.149 Runner right there. And historical documentation 00:11:39.149 --> 00:11:41.909 indicates Cobell fired specifically to divert 00:11:41.909 --> 00:11:44.629 the cavalry's focus away from the actual hostile 00:11:44.629 --> 00:11:46.690 camp, which is located further down the river. 00:11:47.009 --> 00:11:49.090 Why would he do that? Because his own wife was 00:11:49.090 --> 00:11:50.970 residing in that second camp. Oh, my goodness. 00:11:50.990 --> 00:11:53.330 So he sacrificed the friendly camp to save his 00:11:53.330 --> 00:11:55.129 own family. That's what the record suggests. 00:11:55.690 --> 00:11:57.909 And following that initial shot, the cavalry 00:11:57.909 --> 00:12:00.769 just opened fire on the encampment. And the army's 00:12:00.769 --> 00:12:04.909 official count recorded 173 pagans killed. And 00:12:04.909 --> 00:12:07.419 the really tragic part is Because the majority 00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:09.419 of the working age men were away on a hunt at 00:12:09.419 --> 00:12:12.039 the time, the casualties were overwhelmingly 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:15.059 women, children and the elderly. It was an absolute 00:12:15.059 --> 00:12:18.460 slaughter. And that massacre, compounded by the 00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:21.059 systematic industrialized slaughter of the bison 00:12:21.059 --> 00:12:23.879 herds by European American hunters, it completely 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:25.700 severed the Blackfoot from their foundational 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:28.580 ecosystem. It just broke the entire supply chain 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:31.120 we talked about earlier. Completely. And this 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:34.019 all culminated in the starvation winter of 1883 00:12:34.019 --> 00:12:37.860 to 1884. With the bison practically extinct and 00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:40.159 promised government food rations failing to arrive, 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:43.460 600 Blackfoot people literally starved to death. 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:46.720 600 people. Yeah. This was the brutal threshold 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:48.799 that finally forced the Confederacy out of their 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.259 nomadic sovereignty and into the restrictive, 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:53.600 devastating reality of the reservation system. 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:56.220 Which leaves you looking at a timeline of just 00:12:56.220 --> 00:12:58.840 apocalyptic loss. I mean, the biological supply 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.710 chain is gone. land is restricted, the population 00:13:01.710 --> 00:13:04.350 is decimated by disease and military violence. 00:13:04.950 --> 00:13:07.470 How does a culture absorb that magnitude of trauma 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:10.250 without entirely disintegrating? Well, physical 00:13:10.250 --> 00:13:12.789 survival under those conditions requires an incredibly 00:13:12.789 --> 00:13:15.409 robust psychological and cultural architecture. 00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:18.149 What do you mean by cultural architecture? Their 00:13:18.149 --> 00:13:20.370 internal social structures provided profound 00:13:20.370 --> 00:13:23.129 resilience. The Confederacy was organized into 00:13:23.129 --> 00:13:26.230 complex societies. Men participated in warrior 00:13:26.230 --> 00:13:29.210 societies, gaining status through highly codified 00:13:29.210 --> 00:13:31.570 acts of bravery, such as counting coups. And 00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:34.190 the women had societies too, right? Oh, absolutely. 00:13:34.769 --> 00:13:37.870 Women maintained equally vital societies. They 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:40.519 took charge of intricate quill work, managed 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:43.139 the critical food preservation logistics, and 00:13:43.139 --> 00:13:45.179 spearheaded the complex preparations required 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:48.740 for the Sundance. Their societies were just as 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:51.519 powerful. And their mastery extended far beyond 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:54.539 just social organization into this intricate 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:58.750 pharmacopoeia. The sources detail a highly developed 00:13:58.750 --> 00:14:01.250 ethnobotanical science. Yes, their knowledge 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:04.009 of plants was incredible. We know they utilized 00:14:04.009 --> 00:14:06.769 sweetgrass and sage for ceremonial smudging, 00:14:06.769 --> 00:14:09.509 but they also integrated these plants practically 00:14:09.509 --> 00:14:12.129 utilizing the smoke as a highly effective insect 00:14:12.129 --> 00:14:14.629 repellent against Plains mosquitoes. Which if 00:14:14.629 --> 00:14:16.750 you've been on the Plains is essential. Totally. 00:14:17.149 --> 00:14:19.629 And they harvested Asclepias virida flora, which 00:14:19.629 --> 00:14:22.509 is a specific milkweed root. They processed it 00:14:22.509 --> 00:14:25.590 to treat dermatological rashes. alleviate severe 00:14:25.590 --> 00:14:28.269 sore throats, and even soothe the gums of nursing 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:30.750 infants. That practical mastery of their environment 00:14:30.750 --> 00:14:33.009 was seamlessly integrated into their interpersonal 00:14:33.009 --> 00:14:35.250 frameworks as well. How so? Look at their marriage 00:14:35.250 --> 00:14:37.929 customs, for instance. They were highly structured 00:14:37.929 --> 00:14:40.730 alliances. A man was required to demonstrate 00:14:40.730 --> 00:14:44.090 his proficiency as a hunter and provider, but 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:47.100 And this is key, the woman maintained the absolute 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:49.360 final authority in accepting the arrangement. 00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:52.679 So she had the final say. Yes. And polygamy was 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:55.639 practiced, and it frequently involved a man marrying 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:58.159 sisters. Marrying sisters? That sounds like a 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:01.220 recipe for drama. You'd think so, but the underlying 00:15:01.220 --> 00:15:04.120 logic was actually structural harmony. They believed 00:15:04.120 --> 00:15:07.220 that sisters who already possessed a shared history 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:10.139 and familial bond would manage a household with 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:13.240 significantly less friction than complete strangers. 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:16.519 Okay, that is a very pragmatic approach to maintaining 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:19.419 internal stability. But to really grasp the architecture 00:15:19.419 --> 00:15:22.279 of their resilience, we have to look at how they 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:24.879 process chaos through their cosmology. Their 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:27.139 mythology is fascinating. It really is. Their 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:29.259 creation myth involving the sun and the moon 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:32.220 is incredibly intricate. It begins with a husband 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:34.990 discovers his wife's infidelity with a rattlesnake. 00:15:35.090 --> 00:15:38.190 A rattlesnake. Yeah. He destroys the snake's 00:15:38.190 --> 00:15:41.289 den, and anticipating his wife's wrath, gives 00:15:41.289 --> 00:15:43.929 his two children a stick, a stone, and some wet 00:15:43.929 --> 00:15:46.870 moss, telling them to flee. He traps his wife 00:15:46.870 --> 00:15:49.409 and severs her head, but the head animates itself 00:15:49.409 --> 00:15:52.669 and relentlessly pursues the children. It's intense. 00:15:53.190 --> 00:15:56.600 The narrative utilizes this surreal escalating 00:15:56.600 --> 00:16:00.179 dream logic to map their physical reality. Exactly. 00:16:00.659 --> 00:16:02.539 As the children flee, the older brother throws 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:05.039 the stick behind them, which rapidly manifests 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:08.100 into a dense, sprawling forest to impede the 00:16:08.100 --> 00:16:10.179 severed head. Creating the forests, right. Right. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.080 And then when the head pushes through the timber, 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:14.639 the younger brother throws the stone, which erupts 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.860 into a massive, continent -spanning mountain 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:19.720 range. The Rockies. Yeah. Finally, as the head 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:22.000 breaches the peaks, they wring out the wet moss. 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:25.620 The dripping water expands into a vast ch - ocean, 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:28.299 frequently interpreted as the Bering Strait, 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.559 where the head finally drowns. So the physical 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:33.200 geography of the world is established, but the 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:35.299 myth continues and it deliberately addresses 00:16:35.299 --> 00:16:37.559 the geopolitical reality they eventually faced 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:40.320 with Europeans. Right, because the two brothers 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:43.169 then separate. The simpler brother travels north, 00:16:43.470 --> 00:16:46.090 eventually becoming known as Old Man or the Creator, 00:16:46.529 --> 00:16:48.750 and he shapes the Blackfoot people. And what 00:16:48.750 --> 00:16:50.669 about the other brother? The highly intelligent 00:16:50.669 --> 00:16:52.990 brother travels south and creates white people. 00:16:53.529 --> 00:16:56.309 And specifically, he imparts to them the advanced 00:16:56.309 --> 00:16:58.970 knowledge of metallurgy and modern weaponry. 00:16:59.110 --> 00:17:01.509 That's a crucial detail. Meanwhile, the original 00:17:01.509 --> 00:17:04.049 husband and wife are transformed into the sun 00:17:04.049 --> 00:17:06.849 and the moon. The moon forever chases the sun 00:17:06.849 --> 00:17:09.549 across the sky, and if she ever catches him, 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:12.190 the world will... plunge into eternal night. 00:17:12.509 --> 00:17:15.950 It's a beautiful complex story. It is. So what 00:17:15.950 --> 00:17:18.269 does this all mean for them historically? Well, 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:21.430 we connect this to the bigger picture. This myth 00:17:21.430 --> 00:17:24.450 is a phenomenal mechanism for psychological resilience. 00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:27.829 The Blackfoot didn't view European technological 00:17:27.829 --> 00:17:32.490 superiority like guns, steel, steam, as an inexplicable 00:17:32.490 --> 00:17:35.410 alien magic that invalidated their own worldview. 00:17:35.609 --> 00:17:37.410 They didn't just give up and say their gods are 00:17:37.410 --> 00:17:41.019 stronger. Exactly. Instead, they localized that 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:43.380 technology, writing it directly into their own 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:46.039 creation story. By positioning the creator of 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:48.539 white people and their weapons as the younger 00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:51.119 brother to their own creator, they maintained 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:53.759 a sense of cosmological authority. That is so 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.079 smart. They folded the trauma into their own 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:59.440 narrative. They rationalized the chaos of the 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:02.660 changing world without surrendering their psychological 00:18:02.660 --> 00:18:05.630 anchor. I mean, governments can restrict your 00:18:05.630 --> 00:18:08.849 borders, but an internalized framework that completely 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:11.859 explains the universe. That is nearly impossible 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:14.559 to dismantle. And they needed every single ounce 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:16.819 of that internalized resilience as they moved 00:18:16.819 --> 00:18:19.640 into the 20th century. Because following those 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:22.400 starvation winters, the U .S. and Canadian governments 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:25.319 implemented these really aggressive systemic 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:27.640 assimilation policies. Yes, the boarding school 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:29.819 era. They officially banned traditional religious 00:18:29.819 --> 00:18:32.460 practices. They dismantled tribal governance 00:18:32.460 --> 00:18:34.759 and they forced Blackfoot children into residential 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:36.980 boarding schools that were explicitly designed 00:18:36.980 --> 00:18:39.650 to eradicate their cultural identity. They punished 00:18:39.650 --> 00:18:41.809 the kids severely just for speaking their native 00:18:41.809 --> 00:18:44.769 language. The objective was total cultural erasure. 00:18:45.589 --> 00:18:47.970 But the legal landscape shifted slightly with 00:18:47.970 --> 00:18:51.009 the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. What did 00:18:51.009 --> 00:18:53.269 that do? It permitted the restoration of elected 00:18:53.269 --> 00:18:55.589 tribal governments and the legal practice of 00:18:55.589 --> 00:18:58.190 their traditions again. And that legal opening 00:18:58.190 --> 00:19:02.109 catalyzed this monumental decades -long rebuilding 00:19:02.109 --> 00:19:04.720 effort. Which brings us to the language. By the 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:07.960 1950s and 60s, the Blackfoot Council recognized 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:10.599 that the Pecuni language was dangerously close 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:13.359 to extinction. So they initiated this massive 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:16.019 collaborative effort, pairing the few remaining 00:19:16.019 --> 00:19:18.660 fluent elders with younger generations to actively 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:21.619 teach and document the language. And this raises 00:19:21.619 --> 00:19:24.359 an important question for us today. What does 00:19:24.359 --> 00:19:26.859 it take to pull an entire linguistic framework 00:19:26.859 --> 00:19:29.740 back from the brink of oblivion? It takes a lot 00:19:29.740 --> 00:19:32.619 of work. It requires immense institutional dedication 00:19:32.619 --> 00:19:35.319 and a profound refusal to let the core of your 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:37.779 identity be silenced. And that effort was so 00:19:37.779 --> 00:19:41.240 systematically successful that by 1994 the council 00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:43.420 officially reinstated Pecuni as their national 00:19:43.420 --> 00:19:46.680 language. That is an incredible victory. And 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:49.279 that drive to rebuild is visible across their 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:51.759 modern infrastructure today. I want to remind 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:54.500 you, the learner, that this is not just a history 00:19:54.500 --> 00:19:57.740 lesson. Yes, there are significant economic hurdles 00:19:57.740 --> 00:20:00.680 today. Geographic isolation on the reservations 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:03.279 can drive up unemployment, but they are actively 00:20:03.279 --> 00:20:05.940 countering that. Very actively. They're establishing 00:20:05.940 --> 00:20:08.619 institutions like the Blackfoot Community College 00:20:08.619 --> 00:20:11.460 in Montana and Red Crow Community College in 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:14.720 Alberta. They manage lucrative natural resource 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.519 leasing, and they host these massive cultural 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.079 gatherings like the North American Indian days. 00:20:20.009 --> 00:20:22.470 Yeah, they are not a relic of the 19th century. 00:20:22.549 --> 00:20:25.150 They are a vibrant force in the 21st. Blackfoot 00:20:25.150 --> 00:20:27.569 individuals are actively shaping global culture 00:20:27.569 --> 00:20:29.710 and policy right now. Oh, absolutely. You have 00:20:29.710 --> 00:20:32.269 Eloise Cobell, the banker and activist who spearheaded 00:20:32.269 --> 00:20:34.849 a historic multi -billion dollar class action 00:20:34.849 --> 00:20:37.329 lawsuit that forced the U .S. government to reform 00:20:37.329 --> 00:20:40.089 decades of mismanaged Indian trust funds. She 00:20:40.089 --> 00:20:42.529 is a legend. Yeah. And you have major cultural 00:20:42.529 --> 00:20:45.210 figures, too, like the actor Eugene Brave Rock 00:20:45.210 --> 00:20:47.769 from Wonder Woman and Lily Gladstone, the Golden 00:20:47.769 --> 00:20:50.779 Globe winning actress. The modern Confederacy 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:53.700 is a testament to an unbroken lineage asserting 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:56.339 its place in the modern world. It's an epic journey 00:20:56.339 --> 00:20:59.539 from forest dwelling travelers pulling dog sleds 00:20:59.539 --> 00:21:02.299 to the undisputed horse riding masters of the 00:21:02.299 --> 00:21:05.019 Great Plains through the crucible of biological 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:08.000 devastation, violence, and institutional erasure 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:11.319 to a thriving culturally grounded modern nation. 00:21:11.579 --> 00:21:14.039 I think the ultimate takeaway here, for you listening, 00:21:14.599 --> 00:21:16.740 is that the history of the Nitzitapi proves that 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:19.420 true cultural survival isn't about remaining 00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:22.140 static. No, not at all. It is the sheer power 00:21:22.140 --> 00:21:24.599 of adaptability. It's the ability to utilize 00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:27.380 new technologies, navigate shifting geopolitical 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:30.000 landscapes, and rewrite your economic strategies, 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:32.460 all while ensuring the foundational core of your 00:21:32.460 --> 00:21:34.880 identity remains untouchable. It is a remarkable 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:37.660 blueprint for resilience. And to you, listening, 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.359 we want to leave you with one final thought to 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:43.039 mull over. Let's trace all the way back to that 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:45.359 early Blackfoot economic model we discussed at 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:47.720 the beginning. The concept of the ponocamita, 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:50.640 the horse, and how it redefined value. Right, 00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:53.099 the fundamental principle that hoarding diminishes 00:21:53.099 --> 00:21:56.019 your status and that ultimate prestige is derived 00:21:56.019 --> 00:21:58.180 from how much you can distribute to those who 00:21:58.180 --> 00:22:00.960 lack. Think about how deeply ingrained our modern 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:04.059 metrics of success are. The accumulation of capital, 00:22:04.500 --> 00:22:07.140 the expanding of personal portfolios, the height 00:22:07.140 --> 00:22:10.619 of our own fences. If a society as dominant and 00:22:10.619 --> 00:22:13.319 sophisticated as the Blackfoot measured a person's 00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:15.759 ultimate worth by what they actively redistributed 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:18.559 to their community, how might our modern society 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:21.099 fundamentally transform if we viewed hoarding 00:22:21.099 --> 00:22:23.400 not as a sign of success, but as a failure of 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:25.660 leadership? The image of the Plains Indian was 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:27.980 never frozen in time. It was constantly evolving. 00:22:27.880 --> 00:22:31.019 Perhaps it is time our own definition of success 00:22:31.019 --> 00:22:31.740 evolved too.