In the 1730s, the buffalo roamed North America’s western grasslands by the millions, the keystone of the ecosystem. This gift from Creator provided food and materials for tents, clothing and weapons for the nomadic descendants of Algonquin people migrated from the east thousands of years before. The Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy) people included the Peigan, Siksika, and Kainaiwa and they allied with nations such as the Tsuut’ina. Overlapping territories and hunting grounds brought conflict with the Shawnee, the Crow, the Lakota, and the Iron Confederacy (the Plains Cree, Assiniboine and Salteaux).

The once extinct horse was returned to North America by Columbus, and spread gradually north. When Shoshone raiders on horseback attacked the Peigan in 1737, the Niitsitapi realized the importance of the horse. When the Cree acquired guns from the fur traders the Niitsitapi traded with them. In 1787 they defeated the Shoshone, expanding their territory. The Buffalo Wars were violent competition over the dwindling buffalo. After 20 years of killing, the Battle of Belly River was the last major battle between two First Nations on Canadian soil. With the buffalo nearly extinct by 1890, the Niitsitapi negotiated with Ottawa as a proud independent people, ensuring a place in the new Dominion of Canada for all their descendants.