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Looking over the 2000 Federal Census online, I discovered a lot of people claiming to be either Blackfeet or part-Blackfeet living in MO and VA. I am sure there are more in other states as well, but I wonder how many of these people are related to the Blackfeet of the west and how many have had it passed down that they are Blackfoot of the southeast…just a thought.
Note: There is a toggle on the top right side of the page to pick any state in the Union.
For the entire US:
In MO:
In VA:
How cool…thanks a bunch, Rockhound.
The material on the face presents many interesting questions that I haven’t found answers to in the site yet. I think I found that the Race, Ethnic, or Ancestry Group was self Identification.
Questions are:
- What was the content of the census questions regarding Ra., Eth.,or Anc.? (It is briefly mentioned here on the AIAN page):
- Were the tribal affiliations written in rather than questions on the form?
- How did they choose which tribes to include in the drop-down menu on this site?
- Is there any relationship to federally recognized tribes in these identification categories?
Some answers might be found under Tool & References, Special Interest, AIAN from the left menu on the site:
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/aian/index.html
Questions can be asked and a request for a reply made under Feedback at the top of the page. If the tribes were printed form questions one might suggest they include Western Blackfoot and Eastern Blackfoot next time; or make the same suggestion if they chose these tribes from write-in responses. Eastern Blackfoot self-identifying may have also put Sioux. I’m wondering who exactly is Sioux by their standards. It’s confusing. My guess is it is self-identification, unregistered and there is no way to know which Blackfoot people were referring to… lot’s of interesting reading here on the AIAN/index page.
Interpretation and usage of census data can still be used to erase Indians on paper. In 2001 I wanted to know how many American Indians were in NE and some specific counties. A person at a state agency told me they only counted “Only of (That) Tribe”, not, “Of (That) Tribe and Other.” A person could be 7/8 AI, registered, and not be counted as Indian in statistics.
As far as I remember, it was a blank line right after “Native American/Native Alaskan” where you could write in which tribe you associate yourself with.
I bet some of these “Blackfeet” may be like some here when they started researching. They may have simply had this information passed down through the family, but have little to no knowledge of the tribe itself, let alone know that they were a Sioux-speaking group.
At that time, I had no knowledge of the Saponi or the Blackfoot, only my Cherokee roots, so it wasn’t me. 😉
Very interesting. Was it time consuming coming across all these people with the Blackfoot ID? Or is it something I could look at in a hurry and see what you’re saying? Gotta run at the moment, but I do want to pursue this.
Linda,
It doesn’t take much time at all because it isn’t for individuals.
It simply says there are X number of people who claim Cherokee ancestry in MO, X number of people who claim Blackfoot ancestry in MO, X number of people who claim Blackfoot ancestry in VA, etc.
Thanks, Rockhound. That is very interesting.
1,550 Blackfeet in Virginia, split almost equally between male and female. 587 occupied housing units. Disability status (5 yrs & over), 562.
You can go back and select a different tribe or combination. For contrast, I selected Cherokee + other (still just in VA). 14,250 total. 5,529 housing units. Disability status 5,036.
I find the disability part interesting. (I’m on SSDI myself.) Am I reading that right? If so, I wonder what is disabling so many of us? Perhaps that’s a topic for another thread…
These are interesting figures, however if you look at the group population and then compare the age break downs do they factually represent the total “Blackfoot” population.
The numbers that caught my eye was ie, say 427 in the group with only 20 over the age of 65, does that mean that that the percentage of people claiming “Blackfoot” as an identification is mainly by the younger age groups.?
And what of the older generation that is reluctant to ID other than how they have been previously grouped ie. AA or NDN or other?
Aswell what about the “nationalisms” that have been perpetuated previously such as “melungeon” and “Cherokee”., is it now becoming the in thing in certain areas to be “Blackfoot”, it may not be with in any or all groups but perhaps with certain individuals.
Then if “Nationalism” amongst the “Eastern Blackfoot” becomes prevelant where will that leave the future of newly forming organizations that should have been there prior to any date.
Something to think about now.
It is my guess that there are a few reasons Tom;
For one, there has been such an upturn in the sheer numbers of people researching their genealogy for the first time during the past 35 years … and especially in the last ten or so with the advent of the internet – so many online sites, so much research being performed, so much growth to the data-bases … and people are finally seeking out “great-aunt Sadie” for the first time to ask what she remembers being told – and Sadie is talking!
There are also many people, like me, who came across Melungeon first – but only a week ago or so did I think to enter “Cherokee – Blackfoot” together, in their browser’s search-bar. I had never heard of Saponi until then although I did know of the Sioux co-existing (almost) with the Cherokee on the same general turf.
Another is, of course, the great increase of those who are now interested in being nDn when before, it was just a bygone conclusion that most Cumberland folks or South-Easterners were part Indian. And with the failures of white or “white-society-based” governments, people are turning to research alternative and original ways – thus adding to the increase.
And I also have to wonder, are we all being called to gather? Is our day at hand?
I find the disability part interesting. (I’m on SSDI myself.) Am I reading that right? If so, I wonder what is disabling so many of us? Perhaps that’s a topic for another thread…
Beeleaf,
I wonder myself what that is. Right now, I’m sort of “between the cracks” not on SSDI, but no insurance as it would either cost my hubby $500.00 a month and he’d have to pay for that out of his pay check. I am in the process of getting diagnosed for one problem (depression), and hope to be changing doctors soon, as our family doctor is an HMO and doesn’t seem to like doing too many tests – and he likes to prescribe more expensive medicines. This is partly why I got into genealogy, to find if my problems were inherited – and they seem to be.
Anita B. aka Sparrow
I just got out my Excel and I entered the population for each state and the number of people classifying themselves as Blackfeet. Then I ran the percentages.
I didn’t see any correlation between states where we’d expect to see a cluster of our eastern Blackfoot and the percentages that came up. The biggest cluster for Blackfeet, was, of course, in Montana (1.23%). There were higher percentages in California (.04%), Oregon (.07%), Washington (.09%) and Alaska (.08%), making me think that these are tribal Blackfeet who tended to migrate to those western states when they did leave the reservation.
The other states seemed to show percentages between .01% and .04%. The states where we have seen clusters of families with the Blackfoot ID that we connect with eastern origins show inconsistent percentages, not unlike the other states.
My conclusion: I don’t think this census attracted many of our eastern Blackfoot descendants to list themselves as ‘Blackfeet.’ I can email that file as an attachment to anybody who wants to see it.
Please forgive me for stating what is probably common-knowledge … but there is a “Blackfeet” Tribe near to the Blackfoot Tribe of MT/ID/CAnada – in CAnada and that may be where the western numbers come from.
Dan C
danricecote wrote: Please forgive me for stating what is probably common-knowledge … but there is a “Blackfeet” Tribe near to the Blackfoot Tribe of MT/ID/CAnada – in CAnada and that may be where the western numbers come from.
Dan C
You are correct and that is what Linda is saying.
Out west it is Blackfeet, in the east it is Blackfoot.
I’d like to see your spreadsheet, Linda.
I don’t know if we can expect certain states to have “clusters” of Blackfoot or not. Think of how dispersed we have become since the mid-1700’s. On top of that, just because a family has stayed in the southeast, that does not necessarily mean they have the Blackfoot story passed on any more or any less than those whose families’ have spread out.
Either way, it was just a theory.
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