The First Contact
Spirituality and the Blackfoot Confederacy
Mere inches separate the two hands. If only they could reach just a little further, maybe they could grab hands and pull each other close. On the left, a white man sits on a patch of fresh green Earth. My mind fills in the figure on the right before my eyes can reach the other side of the canvas. It should be God- or my God at least- with white robes, silver beard, and his swath of angels. But this isn’t Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam”, and the figure on the right is not my God. He is a Native American man with a traditional feather headdress, strong face, and his swath of bison and horses. “The First Contact”, by Louis Still Smoking, the small white title block under the canvas reads.
The gap between their two hands represents not only a physical divide between Native Americans and the rest of the country, but a psychological divide deeply rooted in history. It is a divide all too familiar. A gap that has been clear at every Visitor’s Center, National Park, Museum, and Gift Shop from Georgia to Washington and back. And in the case of the Blackfoot tribe, a gap that began with the first contact with settlers.
Before arriving at the Blackfoot Cultural Center, we spent the early morning by the Glacier Park Lake, learning about the geology, ecology, and anthropology of the land. Those beautiful mountains, lakes, and glaciers had not always belonged to the government, but had once been sacred land for the Blackfeet people. The Blackfeet had not just pitched their tents in the park as they passed through, but some of them had spent their entire lives there, until they were forced off of their land by white settlers and onto pieces of land much smaller than the ones they once inhabited.
An encounter with the Meriwether Lewis is the first recorded contact that the Blackfeet people had with settlers. Several Blackfeet men tried to steal guns from the group of Americans and two of them were killed in the struggle. From this moment on, the relationship between the native people and the newcomers was a hostile one. The settlers introduced weapons and horses to the Blackfeet, and with these two tools, they were able to expand their territory and trade area. But this newfound freedom was short lived.
The Blackfeet cherished bison as a source of food, fur, tools, and spiritual significance, so when settlers decimated the abundant bison population that once roamed the plains, the Blackfeet were devastated. Since the bison decimation, the Blackfeet who could once fight back against the settlers, were faced with hunger and disease, and ultimately forced into treaties that they did not fully understand.
Later that day in the Blackfoot Cultural Center, Ernie Heavy Runner, a member of the Blackfoot Tribe gave us a tour of the sculptures that litter the front room. We all huddled around him, listening intently to the stories his grandmother had once told him, and her parents before her. He told us about the traditional Blackfoot burial practices, spiritual ceremonies, and horse raids. He emphasized the importance of animals to his people. “They know how to live in nature better than we do” he said excitedly. I could see his eyes staring intently at us from beneath his large, light brown sunglasses as if checking to see if we understood what he was saying.
Ernie explained the three different powers that the Blackfeet recognize: natural power, supernatural power, and spiritual power. He also emphasized that “each individual has a sacredness within them.” As he spoke, I felt like I understood what he meant, not just heard what he was saying, but really understood. My life could not be more different than that of his ancestors. The sight of a deer still surprised me and sleeping outside was still somewhat of an oddity, even after two months, but somehow I understood the feelings he was talking about. When he said “There are higher powers out there, you just have to know how to connect with them”, I nodded to myself.
I could picture myself singing in a room lit only by projector light, and carefully breaking off small pieces of bread and taking a sip of wine, and sitting on my bed at night, eyes closed, silently mouthing the words of a prayer. As if he knew exactly what I was thinking, Ernie began to compare the Blackfoot rituals to Christianity. He compared the sacred thunder-pipe to the cross and Blackfoot chants to hymns in church. Once again I noticed a connection I had seen at nearly every Visitor’s Center, National Park, Museum, and Gift Shop from Georgia to Washington and back. How is it that two groups so different from each other- the white settlers and the Blackfeet- could have completely different histories, but such a similar beliefs?
