Native Languages of the Americas: Blackfeet Indian Legends and Traditional Stories
This is our collection of links to Blackfoot folktales and traditional stories that can be read online.
We have indexed our American Indian legends section
by tribe to make them easier to locate; however, variants on the same
legend are often told by American Indians from different tribes, especially if those tribes are kinfolk or neighbors to
each other. In particular, though these legends come from the Blackfoot tribe, the traditional stories of
related tribes like the
Gros Ventre and Plains Cree are very similar.
Enjoy the stories! If you would like to recommend a Blackfoot legend for this page or think one of the ones on here
should be removed, please contact us and let us know.
˜Old Man (also known by his Blackfoot name, Naapi, or spelling
variants such as Napi, Nape, Napa, Napiw, Napioa, or Old-Man.) Naapi is the benevolent culture hero of the Blackfoot tribe (sometimes referred to as a
"transformer" by folklorists.)
He is a trickster, a troublemaker, and sometimes a foolish person, but he is also responsible for the shaping of the world the Blackfeet live in and
frequently helps the people. He is assisted in these tasks by his wife, Old Woman or Old Lady (Kipitaki or Kipitaakii in Blackfoot).
In some Blackfoot Indian legends both Old Man and Old Woman are associated with coyotes (some Blackfoot storytellers even call them
"Old Man Coyote" and "Old Lady Coyote," as the Crow Indians do.) In other Blackfoot legends they have no particular connection
with coyotes and are instead described as the first man and woman made by the Creator, who in turn made the rest of humankind.
Naapi shares some similarities with other Algonquian heroes such as the Cree
Wisakejak, Wabanaki
Glooskap, and Anishinabe
Nanabozho, and many of the same stories
are told in different Algonquian tribes with only the identity of the protagonist differing. Napi is pronounced similar to nah-pee, and Kipitaki is
pronounced similar to kih-pih-tah-kee.
˜Apistotoki (also spelled
Apistotooki, A'pistotooki, and other ways.) This is the Blackfoot name for the Creator (God,) who is also known
by the name Ihtsipatapiyohpa or Iihtsipaitapiiyo'pa ("Source of Life") or, in English, Great Spirit.
Apistotoki is a divine spirit with no human form or attributes and is never personified in Blackfoot folklore. The name is
pronounced similar to ah-piss-toh-toh-kee.
˜Blood-Clot Boy (also known by his Blackfoot name,
Katoyis or Kutoyis, which is pronounced kah-toh-yiss.) A mythical Blackfoot hero who has many adventures slaying monsters and wicked people.
˜Star Boy. A magical hero who is the son of a Blackfoot woman
(known as Feather Woman or Soatsaki) and the immortal Morning Star. After he and his mother are banished he is known as Poia (or Poïa, or Boh-yi-yi)
for a while instead, translated as "Scar-Face" in English (from the Blackfoot word payoo, "scar.") It was very common for Blackfoot people,
especially boys and men, to take on new names several times in their life, so this temporary name change did not confuse Blackfoot listeners the way it
confused some anthropologists!
Native Peoples
Indian Why Stories:
Old Man and Old Woman 
