Blackfeet Warrior Statues, East Glacier

From scraps of rusted automobiles, bits of barbed wire and the stones of an old mission school; artist Jay Laber has created a monument of two Native American warriors astride their horses at all four entrances to the Blackfeet Reservation. The first entrance sign was completed in 1999. The bases of these signs were built with recycled sandstone blocks from the buildings at Two Medicine Catholic Mission which was built in the late 1800's. The horses and riders were constructed of old cars which were destroyed in the flood of June 8, 1964. Both events played a major role in the history of the Blackfeet people and continue to do so today.
The Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, is a federally recognized sovereign nation that exercises governmental control over its land and resources. The Blackfeet Tribe is represented by more than 17,000 enrolled members with ancestral ties reaching as far as Canada and throughout the United States and has been in existence for more than 10,000 years. Nearly half of the members still reside on the Blackfeet Reservation with a land base of 1.5 million acres. The Blackfoot Nation is actually a confederation of several distinct tribes, including the South Piegan (Blackfeet or Piikani), the Blood (or Kainai), the North Piegan, and the North Blackfoot (or Siksika). They traditionally called each other Niitsitapii, or "Real People." This word was also used by fur traders in the late 1700’s thru the 1800’s as a reference to Blackfoot speaking people. The name Blackfoot reportedly derived from the black-dyed moccasins worn by some tribal members at the time of early contact with Europeans. blackfeetcountry.com