The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains (Civilization of the American Indian Series) [Paperback]

John C. Ewers (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0806118369 | ISBN-13: 978-0806118369 | Publication Date: September 15, 1983

The Blackfeet were the strongest military power on the northwestern plains in the historic buffalo days. For half a century up to 1805, they were almost constantly at war with the Shoshonis and came very close to exterminating that tribe. They aggressively asserted themselves against the Flatheads and the Kutenais, shoving them westward across the Rockies. They got on fairly well with English and Canadian traders during the heyday of the fur trade on the Saskatchewan River, but on the upper Missouri they took an early dislike to Americans, whom they called "Big Knives." American fur traders, such as Manuel Lisa, Pierre Menard, and Andrew Henry, were literally chased out of Montana by the Blackfeet.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John C. Ewers, the first curator of the Museum of the Plains Indian on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, serves as Ethnologist Emeritus in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He is the author of The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains and Indian Life on the Upper Missouri and the editor of Edwin Thompson Denig's Five Indian Tribes of the Upper Missouri, all published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Product Details

• Paperback: 362 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press (September 15, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806118369
• ISBN-13: 978-0806118369
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thoroughly documented research, June 11, 2002

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jannert "jannert" (Hamilton Scotland) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains (Civilization of the American Indian Series) (Paperback)

This book is a researcher's dream, and a pleasure to read. First published in 1958, this volume traces the history of the Blackfeet from pre-horse days through to the 1950's. The author displays a thorough understanding of his subject, and extensively annotates his work, paying meticulous attention to dates, places and names. John C Ewers was the first curator of the Museum of the Plains Indian near Browning, Montana, and many of the items in the museum collection were given to him at the time by elder members of the tribe at the time. He used primary sources for much of his information for this book, and corroborated details with these tribal elders as much as possible. This is a well-written, respectful history of the Blackfeet nation, and ought to remain in print for decades to come. Potential buyers should scan the Table of Contents page for an overview of subjects covered.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, reasonably thorough, traditional ethnography, May 25, 2006

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Arthur Digbee (Indianapolis, IN, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains (Civilization of the American Indian Series) (Paperback)

This is a good, old-style ethnography of the Blackfoot. It provides a reasonably thorough account of material culture. It's weaker on traditional human culture, especially religious beliefs, but it does a decent job on the outward manifestations of interior beliefs.

As you would expect from this kind of ethnography, the book is descriptive, not explanatory. With very few exceptions, it also fails to make any comparisons with other cultures, and any comparisons concern only the tribe's near neighbors such as the Crow or Flatheads.

Because he did his work in the 1940s and 1950s, Ewers' respondents include elderly members of the tribe who recall customs of their pre-reservation youth. Along with the accounts of white explorers and traders, these provide Ewers' main sources for the history of the Blackfoot.

The parts that stick with me the most are the participants' views of horse raiding expeditions, and the views of "medicine" rituals and objects. Both of these are easily distorted by outsiders, and Ewers seems to get them right.

It's interesting to see the tension in this older ethnographic perspective. He's sympathetic to the tribe, he recognizes the inhumanity inflicted on them, and yet he also praises "good" Indian agents who try to help the Blackfoot learn to farm and ranch. He even has some good things to say about Indian boarding schools!

Simplifying a bit, Ewers tends to see the political and economic injustices inflicted on the Blackfoot but he cannot see the cultural injustices. The tension is evident even in the title, which refers to the "Blackfeet," even though he notes in the text that this plural is not used n the Blackfoot language and many Blackfoot insist on the singular usage that I have used in this review. Some are even offended by the term. It's not clear that Ewars would understand why this matters.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars an american history of the blackfeet, October 1, 2007

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S. Pactor "reader" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains (Civilization of the American Indian Series) (Paperback)

I generally enjoy reading non fiction books to listening to popular music because... music is sooooo corporate. The downside of reading non fiction is that you can't really share your interest with anyone- this contrasts sharply with music- almost everyone has some opinion about some kind of popular music. Most people- even most readers- almost never read a non fiction book (exclusing self help and celebrity bios).

That's a shame, because the internet makes it so easy to buy cheap used books that even the most impoverished individual can keep a steady flow of books shipped to their home address without expending hardly any effort.

This particular volume I bought at the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana. Ewers, the author, was the first Curator of that place. The Blackfeet is a straight forward ethnography of the Blackfeet circa the early 50s.

Ewers is strong on providing transcriptions of statements by elderly Blackfeet who can speak first hand about their rituals and practices from back in the day. His description of "material culture" (what they ate, what they wore, how they lived) are stronger then his descriptions of their native religion and the non-material culture.

As you would excpect from a work of this age, Ewers offers little to no criticism of the united states government or its conduct towards the Blackfeet. He even goes so far as to praise the efforts of several "indian agents"- as corrupt and venal a bunch of men as you are likely to encounter in history.

The relative simplicity of Blackfeet culture makes this 300 pages an easy read. I would be interested in reading further about the original Blackfeet native religion- Ewers left me with many questions. I think that subject alone warrants a book- "The Religion of the Plains Indians.