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This is a labour of love, for a friend, to show my support for him reconnecting with his ancestry, hopefully it will inspire others!!
I'm excited to write this post, not only for the fascinating language involved, but also because the province I live in, Alberta, includes some of the Blackfoot people's traditional territory!
The Blackfoot language is categorized as part of the 'Algonquian" language family, and consists of the following dialects: Siksiká (Blackfoot), Kainai (Blood, Many Chiefs), and Aapátohsipikani (Northern Piegan) in Canada, and Aamsskáápipikani (Southern Piegan), in the United States. Like the Celtic Druids of old, there is an incredibly strong oral tradition; the 'Blackfoot Syllabary' (similar to an alphabet) was only invented sometime in the late 1800s by an Anglican missionary name John William Tims; and that syllabary was based off of another syllabary made for the Ojibwe language, which was itself created by a different missionary, James Evans. (more to follow, WIP to save my writing)
Here's a great site, from an organization working to preserve and enrich the Blackfoot Language!
More resources and information will be added, as I continue building this site.