BLACKFOOT RESEARCH PROJECT COLLECTION

Records regarding the 19th and 20th century history and culture of the Siksika (Blackfoot) Indians from Susan Dietrich (1914-1993) and Oscar Lewis, primarily in 1939, as part of a Columbia University sponsored research project on the Blackfoot Reservation, Montana.

Facsimile documents copied from originals borrowed from Susan Dietrich, 1993. Processed by Mark G. Thiel, CA (Certified Archivist), 1993 and microfilmed, 2001

Scope and Content

The interviews of Yellow Kidney, a medicine man; Insima, "an old lady;" Agnes Chief All Over; Short Chief; and Philip Wells comprise the bulk of the collection. Traditional tribal organization, warrior societies, warfare, hunting, marriage and sexuality, recreation, religious ceremonies, oral literature, and reservation childhood, school, and family life are the principal topics. Also included are photographs of interviewees Yellow Kidney, Insima, Agnes Chief All Over (with husband George) and others plus a paper on reservation culture change among the Sisika, Dakota, and Wichita.

Information on Insima is included in "Transcribing Insima, A Blackfoot Old Lady," Alice Beck Kehoe, in Readings Beyond Words, edited by Jennifer S. H. Brown and Elizabeth Vibert, 1996.

Related Collections at Other Repositories

Guides to Catholic-Related Records for the United States about Native Americans