The winter counts of the Blackfoot Indians, like those of
other Plains tribes, were simple but effective methods of
reckoning time. One outstanding event was recorded for
each year and, if nothing occurred which affected the
whole tribe, a local or personal incident was recorded.
Thus, winter counts kept by different men - varied in
some years but were identical in recording epidemics,
treaties and other significant events.

Among the four Blackfoot tribes (Bloods, North Blackfoot,
North and South Peigan), the winter counts of Bad Head
are the best of the several which have been collected.
Many of the dates have been checked with early records
and have shown a high degree of accuracy. It is also the
earliest winter count, covering the period 1810-1883.

Bad Head, Pakap-otokan, was a minor chief of the Bloods
and leader of the Buffalo Followers band (Inipoyee). He
was a son-in-law of the Bull Back Fat who was met and
sketched by George Catlin in 1832. When Bad Head
was younger, he was known as Father of Many Children
(Manistokos) and signed the Blackfoot treaty with the
American Government under that name in 1855. A short
time later he received the name of Bad Head from his
brother-in-law and was known by both names for the
remainder of his life. Palliser ( 1863:141 ) met him in 1860,
when the chief was in the Cypress Hills area to recover
the body of a son who had been killed by Crees. John J.
Healy, who traded among the Bloods from 1869 to 1874,
knew Bad Head and said: "There was a band of about
forty lodges who generally lived south of the [Canadian-U.S.]
boundary line. This band was under the leadership of Father
of all Children and was friendly towards the whites." (Adney
ms.)

When the Bloods signed the Blackfoot Treaty with the
Canadian Government in 1877, Bad Head was recognized
as being an old and influential leader (Morris, 1880:258).
Native informants say only his age prevented him from
being made a head chief of the tribe. When N. T. Macleod
(1944) saw him in 1880, Bad Head was "a very old man,
practically blind, with one squaw nearly as old and helpless
as himself. . . . He was a very big man, so much so that
they had not a blue minor chief's coat large enough for
him, so had to make one for him from a blue jacket." He
died in the autumn of 1884.

Bad Head kept the winter count on a tanned skin, but no
description of its physical appearance was recorded.
This is the only known instance where a Blackfoot winter
count was painted on a skin. All other winter counts which
have 'been preserved were retained in the memories of
their owners, confirming Wissler's ( 1911:45) observation
that counting sticks or paintings were not generally used
for this purpose.

The Bad Head winter counts were collected by two men,
and internal evidence seems to indicate that they were
acting independently of each other. One was collected
by Father Emile Legal, an Oblate missionary on the Peigan
Reserve, 1881-89, and on the Blood Reserve, 1889-97.
This is preserved in the Oblate Archives, Edmonton, Alberta.
The other was obtained by Robert N. Wilson, a North-West
Mounted Police constable from 1881 to 1884 and later a
trader and Indian Agent among the Bloods. His is in the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Archives in Ottawa.

The winter count as preserved by Wilson actually terminates
in 1889, five vears after Bad Head's death, and Legal's in
1895. The later counts were apparently supplied by other
Bloods but neither Wilson nor Legal has indicated the source.

Besides the Bad Head count, there are a number of others
which have been preserved. Wissler (1911:44) published
two incomplete accounts recounted by Elk Horn and Big
Brave of the South Peigans. The others are in manuscript
form, and were written by educated Indians. One of these
in possession of the author is a copy of a winter count
obtained by Jim White Bull, an elderly Blood. This includes
much of the Bad Head count but continues on to 1906.
According to White Bull, information in his winter count was
passed on from Bad Head to Weasel Horse, who was a head
chief of the Bloods from 1907 to 1915. In 1906, Weasel
Horse and Chief Owl recited the winter counts to White
Bull's brother, who wrote them in a school scribbler.
There is some variation between White Bull's version and
those of Wilson and Legal, but most of these occur after
1883 when White Bull's comments were restricted primarily
to the names of women sponsoring the Sun Dance and to
the death of leading chiefs.

Four other winter counts collected in recent years are
preserved in the Glenbow Foundation Archives, Calgary.
The best is a North Blackfoot winter count of Houghton
Running Rabbit. It covers the period 1830-1937 and has
very few points of similarity with the Bad Head count.
The other winter counts are typed copies obtained from
Teddy Yellow Fly, c.1929, and Joe Little Chief, c.1956,
both members of the North Blackfoot tribe. These almost
duplicate the Running Rabbit count.

The fourth specimen is an unusual one, and has not yet
been verified as an actual winter count. It consists of
a hard covered notebook which was found on the
Peigan Reserve at Brocket. The volume is blank,
except for a tiny sketch in the upper corner of each page.
Some are traditional pictograph figures, such as a man
with a gun, a horse, deer, etc., but others are unlike the
usual figures found on robes or tipis. No informants on
the Peigan Reserve have been able to identify the figures,
but all of those contacted felt it was a winter count.

While the Blackfoot method of maintaining winter counts
does not appear to have been as elaborate as the Sioux
or Kiowa, it was nevertheless quite efficient. During
field work it has been possible to date certain events
among older informants by referring to winter counts.
In latter years, only the more important counts are
remembered, so that an informant may say an incident
occured a year before the 1869-70 smallpox epidemic,
or three years after the Mounted Police arrived.

Besides their value as examples of the Blackfoot calendar
system, winter counts are useful as historical records.
The Blackfoot counts provide information such as the
extent of hunting grounds, location of camp sites, the
movement of traders into the area and the identification
of chiefs. The Bad Head winter count shows that in 1813
the Bloods were raiding Crow camps in the Yellowstone
country and that the Sun Dance was known to them at
least as early as 1818. The winter counts also provide
some insight into Blackfoot attitudes towards historical
events. The Bad Head count mentions the 1855 treaty
with the American Government, which had no lasting
effect upon the Bloods. Oddly enough, however, no
mention is made of the 1877 treaty with the Canadian
Government which was to have a great impact upon the
tribe. It seems to have made little impression with the
Bloods at the time.

In writing the winter counts, both Wilson and Legal added
details provided by informants, together with their own
comments and opinions. As some of these have been
proven to be incorrect, this writer has faithfully transcribed
only the basic Blackfoot term for each winter count. The
literal translation was provided by my interpreter, Senator
James Gladstone, of the Blood tribe. Comments on each
winter count are drawn from a number of sources, including
the Wilson (W), Legal (L) and White Bull (WB), as well as
fur trade journals, Indian Department reports, published
works and a number of Blood informants. My thanks are
extended to all of those who have assisted with this project.

1810 - Kaorsoyix/itsitotorpiyan.
Cropped tails/when they came.

This was probably the Astoria expedition under Wilson P.
Hunt which passed just south of Blackfoot country in the
summer of 1811. Irving (1897:187) observed that the party
cropped the tails of horses purchased from the Arikara so
as to distinguish them from Indian ponies.

1811 - Orkeay-aseniw/itomotsarpi.
Crying Bear/when he was destroyed.

This warrior was killed by Crees in the northern part of
Blackfoot hunting grounds (WB).

1812 - Ekartsiw/otsenik/kotorxispetapi.
Gambler/killed by/ Flathead Indian.

In April, 1813, the traders at Edmonton House reported
that the Bloods and Blackfeet are determined to steal
every Horse belonging to White Men in revenge for the
death of their Relations, fifty of whom have been killed
by the Flat Heads since last summer [ 1812]. White Men,
they say, by supplying the Flat Heads with Arms, are the
principal cause of their great loss." (Edmonton House
entry for April 28, 1813).

1813 - Itakesaopi.
When many of us went to war.

Many Bloods went to raid the Crow Indians on the Big
Horn River (WB).

1814 - Ikinay/itsenitarpi.
Top Knot/when he was killed.

This man was killed by Crow Indians on the Little Big
Horn River (WB).

1815 - Matsi-pokan/itomotsarpi.
Mad Child/when he was destroyed.

Mad Child was a Blood who was killed by Crees on
the banks of the Belly River, not far from the site of
the first Blood Agency (L). This may be the incident
reported by traders in the summer of 1815 when a Cree
and Assiniboin war party attacked a camp of twenty
Blood and Sarsi lodges, killing four men and a woman.
The Bloods retaliated and by winter several had been
killed on each side. (Edmonton House entry for Oct. 11,
1815).

1816 - Asekarsin/itsenitarpi.
Asekarsin/when he was killed.

This man was murdered by another Blood. Wilson
translated the name as Extending his Paw and White
Bull as Extending his Teeth.

1817 - Ominis/itsenitaw.
Buffalo Paunch/when he was killed.

He was killed by his brother (W).

1818 - Stokan.
Winter Sun Dance.

The Sun Dance was usually held in early summer
when the Saskatoon berries were ripe. On this
occasion, a winter camp of Bloods on Sheep River
was in danger of being attacked by war parties of Crees.
A holy woman vowed that if they were spared from
harm she would sponsor a Sun Dance immediately.
When no attack came, the ritual was held (WB).

1819 - Saskina/pastsimesin.
Coughing/epidemic.

In the winter of 1819-20, traders at Edmonton House
reported that a measles epidemic had wiped out one
third of the Blackfoot and Gros Ventre tribes. (Edmonton
House entries for Feb. 6 and March 15, 1820).

1820 - Nisotoskinay/otsenitarpi.
Four Horns/when he was killed.

He was a North Peigan who was killed by a Pend d'Oreille
Indian (W and WB).

1821 - Katookinay/itseniw.
No Top Knot/he died.

1822 - Ekkakiw/otsitsitawpipi/etotoartay.
Limping/when he first came here/where the rivers meet.

Wilson was told that the winter count referred to a fort
built at the mouth of the Yellowstone by Andrew Henry
and W. H. Ashley. Legal, on the other hand, was
informed the post was at the confluence of the Red
Deer and Belly Rivers. This was Chesterfield House,
established for the Hudson's Bay Co. by Donald McKenzie.
Wilson translated Ekkakiw as "Short".

1823 -Innospiw/otsitsenipi.
Long Hair/when he died.

1824 - Sapo/nit-omatapisk-otspi.
Crows/when we drove them away.

1825 - Itaka/ennastop.
Many/when they made a peace treaty.

Wilson and Legal were told that the tribes participating
in the treaty included the Bloods, Gros Ventres, Flatheads,
Nez Perces and Kutenais. On Sept. 22, 1825 Peter Skene
Ogden (Rich, 1950:85), of the Hudson's Bay Co., travelling
with a large party of Flatheads, recorded making a treaty
with a camp of two hundred lodges of Bloods and a few
Gros Ventres and Peigans.

1826 - Misa-orkokinisiw/itomarsikamotspi/sapo.
Strong Goose Neck/when we made a big steal/Crows

Strong Goose Neck, or more correctly Merganser Neck,
is a butte located just west of Belt, Montana (WB).

1827 - Itaka/eniskoyew.
Many/died.

No informants were familiar with this winter count.
Legal translated it as "Many Berries".

1828 - Sapomaxika/itsenitarpi.
Crowfoot/when he was killed.

Crowfoot (properly Crow Big Foot) was the leader of
a party of fourteen Blackfoot ambushed and killed while
enroute to a peace parley with the Shoshoni. The
event occurred south of the Missouri River. In later
years the name Crowfoot was taken by another man who
eventually became head chief of the North Blackfoot
(Dempsey, 1959).

1829 - Ikitsiketapi/otsitomotsarpi.
Seven persons/have been destroyed.

This winter count is remembered by modern Bloods
because of a coincidence associated with it. In 1829,
seven Crow Indians were killed near Buffalo Horn Butte,
a short distance west of Chinook, Montana. The Bloods
were led by Spotted Bear who captured a pipe-hatchet
during the fight. About forty years later, Calf Shirt, a
son of Spotted Bear, led a war party which killed seven
Crees and he also took a pipe-hatchet (WB). The
latter event is recorded in the White Bull winter count for
1870 and Seven Persons Creek, in south- eastern Alberta,
is named for the incident.

1830 - Itsenipitsop.
When we were freezing.

A number of Bloods were frozen to death when on
a raid (W).

1831 - Kipp/otsitsitawpipi/etotoartay.
Kipp/when he lived there/ where the rivers meet.

In October, l831, James Kipp and seventy-five men
established Fort Peigan at the confluence of the Missouri
and Marias Rivers (Chittenden, 1954, 333).

1832 - Otsitsitorkkanipi/omarxistowan/itstoyemiw.
When he was camped there/Big Knife/where he wintered.

In July, 1832, David D. Mitchell and sixty men established
Fort McKenzie on a narrow ridge separating the Teton and
Missouri. (Chittenden, 1954, 336). Wilson was told the
wintering place was called "Straight or Narrow Place on
Milk River".

1833 - Kakatosen/otsitsenisipi.
Stars/when they fell.

This meteoric shower was seen throughout much of North
America on the night of Nov. 12, 1833, and is recorded in
the winter counts of other plains tribes (see Mallery, 1893:280
and Praus, 1962:14). The Bloods were camped on the
Highwood River at the time (W).

1834 - Sapo/itotayiskatarpi.
Crows/when we laid in wait.

This winter count referred to a Blood horse stealing party
which successfully raided a Crow camp on the
Yellowstone (WB).

1835 - Otsitsoyenitarpi/peikenekwax/natsitapin.
When they were killed in the water/Peigans/two.

Two Peigans being pursued by an enemy jumped into
the Marias River and were killed (L).

1836 - Pokax/otsitapotsiskarpi.
Children/when they had strangulation of the throat.

Many children were said to have died of this ailment
(L) which informants believe was diphtheria (WB).
Wilson translated it as constipation.

1837 - Apixosin.
Smallpox.

This disease was brought to the Upper Missouri on the
steamboat St. Peters of the American Fur Company.
About two thirds of the Blackfoot nation, or six
thousand people, died during the epidemic. (Bradley,
1900).

1837 - Itsosiw/stoyew.
When it ended/in winter.

The smallpox epidemic began in June 1837 and was
the subject of the 1837-38 winter count. The cold
wheather helped to control the spread of the disease
and by the spring of 1838 it had run its course
(Chittenden, 1954:620). Therefore, the outbreak,
spread and termination of the epidemic all belong
in the same winter count. However, so great was the
impact of the disaster that the beginning and end
were given as seperate counts.

1838 - Onisten/lotsenitarpi.
Calf Chief/when he was killed.

Wilson was told the Blood chief was killed by a white
trader on the Missouri. Bradley (1900) stated that in
the spring of 1838, A. Culbertson, factor in charge
of Fort McKenzie, killed a Blood known to the
traders as Big Road.

1839 - Potsiw/otsenitarpi.
Meeting Someone/when she was killed.

An old woman named Meeting Someone was
mysteriously killed, her murderer remaining unknown (W).

1840 - Sakoyiskew/attsenitaw.
Hind Face/she was killed.

This woman was killed by a drunken Blood (WB).

1841 - Mahertawatow/itomotsarpi.
Walking Crow/when he was killed.

He was killed by a war partv of Crows (W).

1842 - Itake-piskiopi/akokimikoy.
When at Women's Buffalo jump/ many in one camp.

A large number of Bloods gathered at Women's Buffalo
jump near the Porcupine Hills, in south-western Alberta,
and killed many buffalo (L). This may be the same
Women's Buffalo jump excavated by the Glenbow
Foundation in 1958-59 (see Forbis, 1960).

1843 - Sorkoyenamay/sixika/iteskunakatarpi/napekwan.
Big-mouthed gun/Blackfoot/hunted by/white man.

Some North Blackfoot coming to trade at Fort McKenzie
were fired upon with a cannon by A. M. Harvey, who
was known in Blackfoot as Running Wolf. This action
was supposedly taken in retaliation for the theft of
cattle and the killing of a Negro employee during the
previous year. E.A.C. Hatch (cited in McDonnell,
1940:268) said the incident occured on Feb. 19, 1844,
and that six Indians were killed and several others were
wounded. Wilson was told that thirteen North Blackfoot
were killed. The incident was recorded in the winter
counts of the North Blackfoot and South Peigans.

1844 - Itayak/etorpommaop.
Separated/when we went to trade.

The Bloods separated into two parties for trading, one
going to the British at Rocky Mountain House and the
other to the Americans on the Missouri River (W).

1845 - Otsitsestarkapipi/natosepokomiw.
When he crawled under/ Going to the Sun.

A Blood named Going to the Sun hid in a hole to
escape from the Crees (L).

1846 - Etsipiksikamotapi/sapow.
Came in front to steal/Crows

A war party of Crows crept into the Blood camp and
succeeded in taking the best horses picketed in
front of their owners' tipis (WB).

1847 - Kataetsinipoka/otsitomotsok/assinay.
Not a Favorite Child/when he was defeated/
Assiniboins.

This Blood Indian was killed by Assiniboins on
the Milk River (L).

1848 - Nitsto/matapistotsin.
Winter/started to move with our camps.

Bad Head decided to leave his winter camping
grounds and take a large band of Bloods to stay
near Fort Benton (W).

1849 - Nisitsippi/otsenotsaw/assinay.
Fifty/when they were killed/Assiniboins.

In December 1849, Edwin T. Denig (1952:145)
reported fifty-two Assiniboins had been killed by
Blackfoot on the Marias, while the latter lost
twenty-five.

1850 - Pitaonistaw/otsenitarpi.
Eagle Calf/when he was killed.

This man was also known as Boy (WB) and was
killed by Crees near the Sweetgrass Hills (W).

1851 - Itsto/kakoyew.
Winter/floods.

Heavy snows fell during the early winter, but
unseasonably warm weather caused winter
thaws (WB).

1852 - Itapatorstoyemiw/manistokos.
Went north where he wintered/ Father of many children.

Bad Head (or Father of Many Children) wintered
in the northern Part ot the hunting grounds while
the rest of the Bloods and the Peigans went to
Fort Benton.

1853 - Otsitsapapimarpi/assinaekwan/mammapin.
When he made a shelter of branches/Assiniboin/
abandoned camp.

An Assiniboin, probably on a horse stealing raid,
made a war lodge of branches in a campsite
recently vacated by Bloods (WB).

1854 - Itaomitaohoyop.
When we ate dogs.

The Blackfoot were not dog eaters, but when
starvation reduced them to this necessity, the
incident was recorded in their winter count (WB)

1855 - Nitsitsitorkotspi/ennakex.
When we were first paid/soldiers.

This marked the first official treaty between the
Blackfoot and the American Government, signed
on the Judith River, Montana, on Oct. 17, 1855
(Ewers, 1944:37) Legal was told that the commissioner,
Isaac I. Stevens, was known as Short Man.

1856 - Itestsikarkoy.
When we were slipping.

Much of the Blackfoot hunting grounds was covered
with ice during the winter (WB). It was difficult for
the Indians to hunt, trade and care for their horses.

1857 - Sawkiapekwan/enitsiw/neetarta-tapekwan.
Prairie White Man/killed/Pend d'Oreille Indian.

White Bull said this incident took place at a Point
called Shade, near the present Shelby, Montana.

1858 - Itomarkitseskaop.
We made a big sweat lodge.

1859 - Otsitsipsenitsiyaw/sakoyestamik/ke/mamiokossi.
When they killed each other/Hind Bull/and/Fish Child.

These two brothers were chiefs of the Many Fat Horses
band. While drinking near Rocky Mountain House,
Hind Bull took his daughter away from her husband
and Fish Child objected. In the argument that followed,
Hind Bull shot Fish Child but, before dying, the latter
stabbed his brother to death (Dempsey ms. 1955).

1860 - Neetartaytapi/otsit-otas-kak/assinay.
Pend d'Oreilles/when their horses were taken/
Assiniboins.

The Pend d'Oreilles under their chief, Alexander, were
hunting buffalo along the Milk River when they were
attacked by a large war party of Assiniboins and Crees.
The Pend d'Oreilles had twenty killed, including the
chief's son, twenty-five wounded, and 290 horses taken.
Only the timely arrival of some Peigans prevented the
complete extermination of the camp. This happened
late in November, 1860. (Owen, 1927, vol. 2, 234-5,
238-9, 262).

1861 - Otsitotorpi/natoye-ketokew.
When he got there/Medicine Prairie Chicken.

A leading chief of the Crows who was half Peigan visited
the Bloods during the year (W).

1862 - Tartowa/otsenitarpi.
Tartowa/ when he was killed.

This man, a Peigan, went insane and rode through the
camp firing his gun. He was finally killed by his two
brothers (W). The name has been translated as
Prepared moccasins and as The Fox (L).

1863 Nisokimix/itomotsarpi.
Four enemy in a camp/when they were destroyed.

The Gros Ventres (Atsina) had been allies of the
Blackfoot for generations, but in 1861 a dispute
with the Peigans over stolen horses turned them
into bitter enemies. This winter count refers to four
lodges of Gros Ventres under a chief named The
Stone, who were killed by Peigans on the Belly River.
They had been visiting Blood chief Ermine Horse at
the time of the attack (L).

1864 - Sikapixosin.
Black smallpox.

An epidemic of scarlet fever ravaged the Blackfoot
tribes during the winter of 1864-65. By spring,
Father Albert Lacombe reported to traders at
Edmonton House that 1,100 Blackfoot had died.
(Edmonton House entry for March 24, 1865).

1865 - Itesam-orkimaop.
We waited a long time.

This refers to a long wait for traders who were
supposed to come to the Blood camps (W). In the
previous year, hostilities had broken out between
Americans and the Blackfoot. After the epidemic,
the Blackfoot harrassed the British traders at
Rocky Mountain House, blaming them for the disease
(Edmonton House entry for March 28, 1865). As a
result, traders were reluctant to visit the camps and
some Indians were afraid to go near the trading houses.

1866 - Itayaminotspi.
We were captured by hand.

In March, 1866, a war party of Bloods and North
Blackfoot discovered what they thought was a small
Cree camp at the edge of the Red Ochre Hills.
They killed two women who had been cutting
wood and were following a snow-filled coulee to
the top of the hill when they were discovered.
The lodges they had seen were part of a larger
camp and soon the Crees surrounded the coulee
and slaughtered scores of Indians in the snow
(Cowie. 1913:314).

1867 - Itakaorpoma/tiskaopi.
Plenty trade/on trading expedition.

The Blackfoot were beginning to obtain repeating
rifles and were able to kill larger numbers of buffalo.
As a result, more dried meat, robes and leather
were taken to the traders (L).

1868 - Kaeyetapissiw/otsitsetokorpi.
Bear People/shot at people.

Some members of the Bear People band rushed
through the camp in a drunken state and killed
several people (W). Legal stated they were Peigans.

1869 - Apixosin.
Smallpox.

The disease struck the Blackfoot in the autumn of
1869, again originating with a Missouri River
steamboat. By the spring of 1870, the death toll
was estimated to be 1,080 Peigans, 630 Bloods
and 676 North Blackfoot. (See Winnipeg
Manitoban for Sept. 16, 1871).

1870 - Issinay/itomotsarpi/akaenaskoy.
Assiniboins/when we defeated them/Fort Whoop-Up.

In the autumn of 1870, between 600 and 800 Assiniboins
and Crees attacked Blood camps not far from Fort
Whoop-Up, at the confluence of the Oldman and St. Mary
Rivers. However, the attackers did not know that a large
number of South Peigans with modern repeating rifles were
camped a short distance away. The combined Blood and
Peigan forces succeeded in routing the Assiniboins and Crees,
inflicting casualties estimated between 200 and 300 (Kennedy,
1890). The name for Fort Whoop-Up was "Many Died", which
described the river bottom where the Bloods had suffered
heavy losses during the 1837 pidemic.

1871 - Spitsi/napekwax/itawpiyaw.
Highwood River/white men/settled there.

A trading post was built on the Highwood River for the
winter (W). This was the era of the free trader who
carried whiskey and repeating rifles as stock in trade.
In later years these posts were dubbed "whiskey forts".

1872 - Attsitestoyemiyaw/spitsi/napekwax.
They wintered there/ Highwood River/white men.

In the autumn of 1872, Howell Harris and Asa Sample were
sent by I. G. Baker & Co. of Fort Benton to build a
post on the Highwood River (Dempsey, 1963:31).

1873 - Onistarsesokasin/otsenitarpi.
Calf Shirt/when he was killed.

This is a well known story among the Bloods (see
Dempsey, 1953:65). Calf Shirt was leader of the Lone
Fighters band of Bloods. Joe Kipp, a trader, killed
him in self defence at Fort Kipp, on the Belly River.
The Bloods tried to revive Calf Shirt but stopped
when they thought they were achieving success, as
they were afraid that he would come back to life as
a bear.

1874 - Ennakex/otsitotorpi/akapioyis.
Police/when they came/Fort Macleod.

The North-West Mounted Police, organized in eastern
Canada, arrived at the Oldman River in October 1874,
and built Fort Macleod. They were the first Canadian law
enforcement body in Blackfoot territory (Turner, 1950,
vol. 1, 167). Akapioyis means "many houses".

1875 - Itsixowatorpi/napiorki.
When it was finished/whiskey.

The North-West Mounted Police closed the illicit "
whiskey forts" and within a year, liquor trading had
virtually ceased (Turner, 1950, vol. 1, 196).

1876 - Itakainiskoy.
When there were plenty of buffalo.

The Mounted Police reported buffalo plentiful in the
Blackfoot hunting grounds during the winter of 1876-77,
but by spring the herds were confined mostly to the
Cypress Hills area (Turner, 1950, vol. 1, 326).

1877 - Itsiparkap-otomiop.
When we had a bad spring.

1878 - Itsa/stoyew.
Mild/Winter.

1879 - Itsistsitsis/awenimiopi .
When first/no more buffalo.

By 1879, almost all of the buffalo in the Bloods' hunting
grounds had been killed or driven south. In desperation,
the Bloods followed the herds and during the winter
of 1879-80 they hunted in the Judith Basin region of
Montana (Turner,1950, vol. 1, 476).

1880 - Itorkoneopatotsop.
When we all moved camp.

This refers to the movement of the Bloods back to Canada
after the last buffalo herds were killed (W). The starving
Indians began drifting back at the end of the winter of
1880-81 and by May the entire tribe was camped along
the Belly River. (Blood Agency letter book, entry May 7,
1881).

1881 - Ninna-akew/ossa/otsitotorpi.
Queen Victoria/her son-in-law/when he came.

The Marquis of Lorne, Governor-General of Canada and
son-in-law of Queen Victoria, visited the Bloods at Fort
Macleod in September 1881, during a tour of the west
(MacGregor, 1964, I).
Ninna-akew literally means "Chief Woman".

1882 - Mikahestow/itsikamapi.
Red Crow/when he was robbed.

In August 1883, Red Crow, head chief of the Bloods had
eighty horses stolen by a war party of Crees. Although
the Bloods pursued them towards Cypress Hills, the
raiders were not caught.
(Blood Agency letter book, entry for Aug. 25, 1883).

1883 - Istsienakas/otsitotorpi.
Fire wagon/when it arrived.

The Canadian Pacific Railway line reached the eastern
edge of Blackfoot territory in April 1883, and was built
to the edge of the Rocky Mountains by the end of the
year (Turner, 1950, vol. 2, 19).

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