The Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) is composed of the Kainai (Blood), Piikani (Piegan), Siksika (Blackfoot), and Amskapii Piikuni (Blackfeet) Nations. Since time immemorial, the Siksikaitsitapi people have lived in a territory that stretches from the North Saskatchewan River in Alberta and Saskatchewan to the Yellowstone River in the state of Montana, from the Continental Divide in the west to the Great Sand Hills in the province now known as Saskatchewan. The settler colonial imposed reserves in Canada and U.S. total nearly 1 million hectares but represent a small fraction of the land in which Blackfoot culture, language, and livelihoods have historically been rooted.

In what is now known as Montana, the Amskapii Piikuni (Blackfeet) see themselves as caretakers of much of North America’s water resources since rivers flow from their territory east to the Atlantic, west to the Pacific, and north to the Arctic. Their lands include the spine of the continental divide and vast prairies laced with creeks and rivers and dotted with wetlands, ponds and large lakes. They have a major water compact with the U.S. government, a comprehensive Agricultural Resource Management Plan, and steward an array of resources.