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Blood Tribe
Kainai Nation
Band No. 435
Káínaa / ᖿᖱᖻᖷ

Shield of the Kainai Nation
People	Blackfoot
Treaty	Treaty 7
Headquarters	Stand Off
Province	Alberta
Land
Main reserve	Blood 148
Other reserve(s)	Blood 148A
Land area	1362.639 km
Population (2021)
On reserve	4,572
Total population	12,963
Government
Chief	Roy Fox
Council	Floyd Big Head Clarence Black Water Diandra Bruised Head Winston Day Chief Tony Delaney Dorothy First Rider Martin Heavy Head Travis Plaited Hair Richard Red Crow Maria Russell Piinaakoyim Tailfeathers Marcel Weasel Head
Website
bloodtribe.org

The Kainai Nation (Blackfoot: ᖿᖱᖻᖳ, romanized: Káínaa or ᖿᖱᖻᖷ, romanized: Káínawa, Blood Tribe) is a First Nations band government in southern Alberta, Canada, with a population of 12,965 members in 2024, up from 11,791 in December 2013.

Akáínaa translates directly to 'many chief' (from aká, 'many' and nínaa, 'chief') while Káína translates directly to 'many chief people'. The enemy Plains Cree call the Kainai mihkowiyiniw, 'stained with blood', thus 'the bloodthirsty, cruel', therefore, the common English name for the tribe is the Blood tribe.

The Kainai speak a language of the Blackfoot linguistic group; their dialect is closely related to those of the Siksika and Piikani. They are one of three nations comprising the Blackfoot Confederacy.

At the time treaties such as Treaty 7 were signed, the Kainai were situated on the Oldman, Belly, and St. Mary rivers west of Lethbridge, Alberta. The Kainai reserve Blood 148 is currently the largest in Canada with 4,570 inhabitants on 1,410 km (545 sq mi) and is located 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of Calgary.

Economy

The Kainai Nation is engaged in diverse enterprises and they trade with domestic and international partners. Ammolite mining for example provides a rare highly demanded gem mineral to Asia for Feng Shui. Ammolite is currently known only to be found in the Bearpaw Formation as unique conditions of prehistoric times were optimal for the fossilization of marine life into ammolite. Over the years, mining operations have uncovered several oceanic mosasaur fossils which have been stored for study at the Royal Tyrrell Museum; however, they belong to the Kainai Nation.(Lawrynuik)

Specific claims

The Kainai Nation filed many specific claims with the federal government. In 2017, a federal court ruled that the Crown had underestimated the band's population, which resulted in the band's reserve being smaller than it should have been. As such, the Blood Tribe reserve could be expanded by 421 square kilometres (163 sq mi), but the community could seek a cash-in-lieu-of-land settlement for this claim instead.

In July 2019, the Kainai Nation settled a claim over Crown mismanagement of the band's ranching assets. The community received a $150 million cash settlement. Chief Roy Fox said that $123 million of this settlement will be used to develop "housing, capital works, a new administration building and a new skating rink".

Government

Band council

The Kainai Nation is governed by an elected council of twelve to fifteen, with one chief. The term of office is four years. Historical chiefs of the Kainai are below:

• Last of the hereditary chiefs, Traditional Chief Jim Shot Both Sides (1956–1980)
• Chief Chris Shade (1996–2004)
• Chief Charles Weasel Head (2004–2016)
• Chief Roy Fox (Makiinimaa – Curlew) (2016–present)

Blood Tribe Councillors (2019)

1. Dorothy First Rider (Itoomomaahkaa – Front Runner)
2. Floyd Big Head (Piitaika’tsis – Eagle Arrow)
3. Kyla Crow (Komiikakato’saakii – Round Star Woman)
4. Martin Heavy Head (Ponokaiksikksinamm – White Elk)
5. Joanne Lemieux (Aahkoyinnimaakii – Pipe Woman)
6. Robin Little Bear (Soyiikayaakii – Mink Woman)
7. Kirby Many Fingers (Apanssaapii – Counting Coup)
8. Hank Shade (Aapiisii – Coyote)
9. Lance Tailfeathers (Naatsikapoikkanaa – Two Stars Shining)
10. Tim Tailfeathers (Naato’kisikapiohkitopiyi – Rides Two Grey Horse)
11. Marcel Weasel Head (Niitsayoohkiitohkitopiyi)
12. Franklyn White Quills (Makoyaapii – Wolf Old Man)

Police force

In pre-treaty times, the iikunuhkahtsi were a society responsible for the punishment of misdeeds. As of 2015 the Blood reserve was policed by the Blood Tribe Police, with 31 officers.

• Stu-mick-o-súcks, Buffalo Bull's Back Fat, Head Chief, Blood Tribe, 1832 by George Catlin
• Chief of the Blood Indians, War chief of the Piekann Indians and a Koutani Indian, by Karl Bodmer
• Stsimaki (Reluctant-to-be-woman) - Blood by Edward S. Curtis
• Apio-mita White Dog - Blood
• Niukskai-Stamik Three Bulls - Blood
• Kaistosinikyi Kill-For-Nothing - Blood
• Atso Tohkomi Call-on-All-Sides - Blood
• Astanighkyi Come-Singing - Blood
• Astanighkyi Come-Singing - Blood
• Makoyepuk Wolf-Child - Blood
• Makoyepuk Wolf-Child - Blood
• A Blood horseman

Notable people

• Cherish Violet Blood - stage and film actress
• Red Crow - 1887 Treaty Number Seven Chief
• Byron Chief-Moon - performer and choreographer
• Eugene Creighton (Owns Many Horses)
• Eugene Brave Rock - actor and stunt man
• Faye HeavyShield - artist
• Marie Smallface Marule - academic administrator, activist, and educator
• Natawista Iksina (1825–1893) - interpreter and diplomat
• Jerry Potts
• Pete Standing Alone
• Seen from afar (1810–1869) - PEENAQUIM (Pe-na-koam, Penukwiim, translated as seen from afar, far seer, far off in sight, and far off dawn; also known as Onis tay say nah que im, Calf Rising in Sight, and Bull Collar), chief of the Blood tribe of the Blackfoot nation; b. c. 1810, probably in what is now southern Alberta, son of Two Suns; d. 1869 near the present city of Lethbridge, ALB
• Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers - Kainai and Sámi actress, producer, filmmaker and curatorial assistant
• Esther Tailfeathers
• Tom Three Persons - Rodeo athlete and rancher, best known for winning the saddle bronc competition at the inaugural Calgary Stampede in 1912

In popular culture

In 1960, the Kainai and their Sun Dance were featured in the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary Circle of the Sun. Tribal leaders had been concerned that the Sun Dance might be dying out, and had permitted filming as a visual record. This documentary was later referenced by electronic music duo Boards of Canada on their debut album Music Has The Right to Children, with song titles such as "Kaini Industries" and "Pete Standing Alone" paying homage to the tribe and its leader.

In 1973, the NFB released the documentary Kainai, which discusses the construction and consequences of a factory on their property.

In 2006, community leader Rick Tailfeathers contributed a small ammolite carving of a buffalo skull to the Six String Nation project. The object was permanently mounted on the interior of Voyageur, the guitar at the heart of the project. Following a presentation about the project in September 2014 at Tatsikiisaapo'p Middle School, project creator Jowi Taylor was presented with a braid of sweet grass by school principal Ramona Big Head. The braid resides in the headstock area in the bed of the guitar case.

On National Aboriginal Day in 2011, the NFB released the Pete Standing Alone trilogy, which includes Circle of the Sun, Standing Alone and a 2010 film, Round Up, documenting 50 years of the Kainai Nation as well as the life of elder Pete Standing Alone.

Historical newspapers

• The Kainai News was one of Canada's first aboriginal newspapers and instrumental in the history of aboriginal journalism in Canada. It was published in southern Alberta by the Blood Indian Tribe and later by Indian News Media. Content focused on a range of local issues within the reserve as well as national issues such as the Indian Act, the Whitepaper and Bill C-31. Of particular significance are editorial cartoons by Everett Soop which were a regular feature of the newspaper. Its first editor way Caen Bly, granddaughter of Senator James Gladstone.
• The Sun Dance Echo was a predecessor to the Kainai News. It was edited by Reggie Black Plume and occasionally contained articles by Hugh Dempsey.

Communities

The Kainai nation communities include:

• Bullhorn / Pomiipisskian / ᑲᒍᑯᔈᖽᑉᖳᐡ
• Fish Creek / Akaomisko / ᖳᖿᐠᒍᔈᖾ
• Ft Whoop Up / Akaisakoyi / ᖳᖼᓭᖾᔪ
• Levern / Iisoitapi / ᖱᓴᖱᒣᑯ
• Moses Lake / Aakoohkiimiksi / ᖳᖾᑊᖽᒍᖽᐧ
• Old Agency / Mokowan / Mokoan / ᒐᖾᖷᐡ
• Standoff / Tattsikiitapi / ᒣᒧᐧᖽᒣᑯ

See also

• List of Indian reserves in Alberta

References

1. "First Nation Detail: Blood". Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved August 20, 2019.
2. "Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population". Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
3. Branch, Government of Canada; Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada; Communications (2008-11-14). "First Nation Profiles". fnp-ppn.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca. Retrieved 2024-08-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. Blood Tribe Registered Population - Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada - "Registered Population: Blood". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
5. "Search results". www.creedictionary.com. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
6. - 2016 Census Aboriginal Population Profile
7. Lawrynuik, S (Feb 22, 2017).'It's like nothing else on earth: Rarest of Gemstones fuels boom for Alberta miners'.CBC News, retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ammolite-mine-expansion-canada-gems-1.3993105, retrieved on Nov 28, 2017
8. Narine, S(2002).Fossil discovered in mining operation, Alberta Sweetgrass 9(11) retrieved from http://www.ammsa.com/publications/alberta-sweetgrass/fossil-discovered-mining-operation, retrieved on Nov 28, 2017
9. "Blood Tribe reserve in southwestern Alberta could expand following court ruling". The Star. 2019-06-12. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
10. "'The right thing to do': Alberta reserve to get $150M in historic cattle claim". The Star. Canadian Press. 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
11. "Chief and Council". Blood Tribe. Archived from the original on January 24, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
12. "Stu-mick-o-súcks, Buffalo Bull's Back Fat, Head Chief, Blood Tribe by George Catlin". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
13. "Biography – PEENAQUIM – Volume IX (1861-1870) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography". www.biographi.ca.
14. Dowell, K. L. (2015). "The future looks rad from where I stand: A review of claiming space: Voices of urban aboriginal youth at the UBC museum of anthropology". Anthropologica. 57 (1). ProQuest 1690736642.
15. "Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers". www.bcnu.org. Archived from the original on 2016-09-12. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
16. "Film Screenings: Banchi Hanuse and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers - SFU Woodward's - Simon Fraser University". www.sfu.ca. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
17. Indigenous Youth Wellness, Decolonization with Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, retrieved 2019-02-06
18. "Medical doctor and changemaker, Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, to receive University of Lethbridge honorary degree | UNews". University of Lethbridge. Archived from the original on 2024-06-05. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
19. Rosenthal, Alan; John Corner (2005-05-13). New challenges for documentary. Manchester University Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 0-7190-6899-1.
20. Low, Colin; Gil Cardinal. "Circle of the Sun". Curator's comments. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
21. "Why Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children Is the Greatest Psychedelic Album of the '90s". Pitchfork. 2018-04-03. Retrieved 2024-03-24.
22. "Kainai". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
23. Jowi., Taylor (2009). Six string nation : 64 pieces, 6 strings, 1 Canada, 1 guitar. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 9781553653936. OCLC 302060380.
24. Anderson, Kelly (17 June 2011). "NFB celebrates National Aboriginal Day". Realscreen. Toronto. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
25. Kainai News (1968–1991)
26. Sanderson, Kay (1999). 200 Remarkable Alberta Women. Calgary: Famous Five Foundation. p. 101.
27. Sun Dance Echo (1964–1966)
28. Blood Tribe - About Us & Communities listed "About us | bloodtribe". Archived from the original on 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2014-01-23.

External links

• Blood Tribe Information Web* Kainai Studies - Post secondary educational entity dedicated to Blackfoot teachings
• Introduction to photo essay from 'Nitsitapiisinni: Our Way of Life' museum exhibit
• Concise description of the Blackfoot tribes
• Pete Standing Alone Trilogy, National Film Board of Canada
• Brief biography of former chief Roy Fox
• Kainai News (1968–1991)
• Blackfoot Digital Library
• Blood Tribe page at Treaty 7 Management Corporation website

v t e Blackfoot Confederacy
Tribes or Nations	Blackfoot-speaking Kanai or Blood Piikani, Northern Peigan or Blackfoot Siksika or Blackfoot Amskapi Pikuni, South Piegan or Blackfeet Later members Gros Ventre or Atsina (circa 1793–1861) Tsuutʼina or Sarcee
Communities	Reservations (US) Blackfeet Indian Reservation (South Piegans) Fort Belknap Indian Reservation (Gros Ventres) Reserves (Canada) Blood 148 Piikani 147 Siksika 146 Tsuu T'ina 145
Culture	Blackfoot language Gros Ventre language Tsuutʼina language Blackfeet music Blackfoot religion
History	War with Shoshone (circa 1730s-1800s) 1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic 1837–1838 smallpox epidemic Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851) (with USA) War against the Crow and Gros Ventre (circa 1861–1867) Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) (with USA) Battle of the Belly River (against the Cree, 1870) Marias Massacre (by US Army, 1870) Peace with the Cree, circa 1871, (symbolized by Crowfoot's adoption of Poundmaker in 1873) US land annexation, migration to Canada (1874) Treaty 7 (with Canada, 1877) Starvation winter (1883–1884) Sweetgrass Hills Treaty (with USA, 1887)
Category Commons

v t e First Nations in Alberta
Cultural areas: Plains, Subarctic
Ethnolinguistic groups (by language family)	Algic / Algonquian Blackfoot Cree Plains Woodland Saulteaux Athapascan / Dene Daneẕaa Dënesųłı̨ne Dene Tha' Tsuut'ina Siouan Nakoda
Historical polities	Blackfoot Confederacy Iron Confederacy
Numbered Treaties	Treaty 6 (1876) Treaty 7 (1877) Treaty 8 (1899)
Tribal councils and band governments	Athabasca Tribal Council (Fort McMurray) Athabasca Chipewyan Chipewyan Prairie Fort McKay Fort McMurray Mikisew Cree Blackfoot Confederacy (Standoff) Kainai Piikani Siksika Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations (Enoch) Alexander Alexis Beaver Lake Cree Cold Lake Enoch Cree Ermineskin Cree Frog Lake Whitefish Lake (Goodfish) Heart Lake Kehewin Cree Louis Bull Montana O'Chiese Paul Saddle Lake Samson Cree Sunchild Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council (Atikameg) Loon River Cree Lubicon Lake Band Peerless Trout Whitefish Lake (Atikameg) Woodland Cree Lesser Slave Lake Indian Regional Council (Slave Lake) Driftpile Kapawe'no Sawridge Sucker Creek Swan River North Peace Tribal Council (High Level) Beaver Dene Tha' Little Red River Cree Tallcree Stoney Nakoda - Tsuut'ina Tribal Council (Tsuut'ina) Stoney Nakoda Bearspaw Chiniki Wesley Tsuut'ina Tribal Chiefs Ventures (Beaver Lake Cree) Beaver Lake Cree Cold Lake Frog Lake Heart Lake Kehewin Cree Western Cree Tribal Council (Valleyview) Duncan's Horse Lake Sturgeon Lake Yellowhead Tribal Council (Morinville) Alexander Alexis O'Chiese Sunchild Unaffiliated Bigstone Not federally recognized Aseniwuche Winewak Lubicon Lake Indian Nation Not headquartered in Alberta Acho Dene Koe (NT) Kelly Lake (BC) Onion Lake (SK) Smith's Landing (NT) Terminated Papaschase (1891) Sharphead (1897) Michel (1958)
List of Indian reserves in Alberta Métis in Alberta

• Kainai Nation
• First Nations governments in Alberta