B I jA C K F O O T .
Lith. of ^ûhn Collins,W7S». S.Thicà St.!
COTONAY? BL A C K F E E T .
The Blackfoot natio#4s one of the most powerful in the northwestern region
of this continent; for, notwithstanding their long and desperate conflicts with all
the surrounding tribes, they yet number thirty thousand souls. They are composed
of three principal divisions, of which the Cotmay is the most celebrated and best
known. They are proverbial for their uncompromising hostility to the trappers,
whom they attack and destroy whenever opportunity offers. They never ask for
mercy and rarely award it to their captives. Fierce, crafty and courageous, they
hold little communication with other tribes, and revenge themselves on all
strangers who intrude, whether for good or evil, within the limits of their hunting
grounds.
PLATE XL.
BLACKFOOT.
The only two heads I have ever seen of this isolated nation, were brought to
this city by Mr. George Catlin, and by him presented to George Combe, Esq.
The latter gentleman has politely placed them at my disposal, and I have had the
largest of them figured on tiie annexed plate. It is the. skull of a man who
appears to have received a mortal blow on the top of the head, near the junction
of the parietal bones, which has penetrated iDto the cavity of the cranium. This
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