Native American languages Native American cultures Native American crafts

Mountain Chief

Mountain Chief was a Blackfoot leader of the 19th century. He belonged to the Kainai or Blood tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy. His Blackfoot name was Ninna-stako (also spelled Ninastoko, Nina-istako, Ninaa-iistako, Ninaiistako, and other ways), and was a reference to the name of an important mountain in the traditional territory of his band. There is some historical confusion between two Blood chiefs of the same name-- as was common in Plains Indian tribes, the younger man had simply inherited his father's name after his death. The better-known of the two Mountain Chiefs was the younger one, born in 1848, who had previously gone by the name Big Brave. (It was typical of Plains Indian men to have more than one name in their lifetimes.) Mountain Chief lived a long life, dying in 1942 on the Blood Indian Reserve.

Sponsored Links

Books about Mountain Chief

Blackfeet and Buffalo: Memories of Life Among the Indians:
Collection of Blackfoot oral histories including several about Mountain Chief.

Mountain Chief Resources

Here are some links to online information about Mountain Chief:
Mountain Chief (Ninastoko), last hereditary chief of the Blackfoot tribe
Mountain Chief of the Blackfoot
Mountain Chief photograph
Mountain Chief Biography

And here are our webpages about the Blackfoot tribe and language:
Blackfoot
Blackfoot nation
Blackfeet names
Great Plains culture
Algonquian

Back to our Native American Indian encyclopedia