The Piegan

The Piegan are one of the three groups that make up the Blackfoot Confederacy. They were the most dominant group in the northern Great Plains during the 19th century. The Piegan used to live in the Rocky Mountain Front, the place where the Rocky Mountains meet the Plains, for thousands of years before moving further into the Plains. They lived a nomadic and semi-agricultural life before the introduction of guns and horses into their society. The introduction of European goods facilitated the hunting of bison and prompted them to move into the northern Plains, where they went on to dominate the region. Their first encounter with white people occurred in the 1787-88 winter, when they let a fur trader James Gaddy and an explorer David Thompson camp with them. The Piegan numbered around 3,700 in 1858, a small population previously decimated by smallpox and starvation. Today there are around 27,000 full blooded Piegan Blackfeet, and around 80,000 of Piegan descent. The Piegan population is split between the U.S.-Canada border, as they were historically forced to pick a side when the borders were drawn. These divisions, however, only physically split up a nation, as the bonds of its people are that of blood and are thus stronger than any barrier between them.