While the recordings from the Blackfoot A-1 Singers on Indian House are still in print, this one from 1975 on Canyon Records seems to be out of print... so we've included a download for you. [i]From the liner notes:[/i] THE SINGERS Philip Little Chief Nick Breaker Andy Axe Dennis Black Rider George Good Eagle Raymond Crow Chief Mervin Wolf Leg Recorded by Raymond Boley at Calgary, Alberta February 1975 The Blackfoot A-1 Club began originally in the 1930's, but phased out. This new organization began taking shape in 1954 and is now going strong with members from all across the reserve. When the new club began an elder member suggested they take up the old name, "Blackfoot A-1 Club." The Blackfoot A-1 Club consists of old and young people. Their function is the promotion of culture, history, songs and dances, and leadership. They have travelled to many places in the United States as well as in Canada and Europe. They performed in the Montreal exposition, and at the World's Fair 1974 in Spokane, Washington. The Blackfoot A-1 Club has sponsored the Blackfoot Indian Days Pow Wow on the Blackfoot Reserve for the past ten years. For the past three years, members of the Blackfoot A-1 Club have participated in the annual world famous Calgary Stampede Indian Pow Wow, and have won consecutively the World Chicken Dance Championships. The Chicken Dance is a dance that takes great bodily skill, strength, and near perfect timing. It is a favorite among the young men decked out in their most fanciful head gear and plumage. During the late fall out on the plains, the Prairie Chicken (male) struts around and makes a lot of noise; running, leaping, and ducking in and out in a fast drumming motion. The Indians of the plains, in this dance, imitate the mating dance of the prairie chicken. The music to the Chicken Dance is somewhat similar to the grass dance except a faster beat, stops, and vibrations of the drum. The Blackfeet Nation originally bordered on the Saskatchewan River as their northern boundary, to the Yellowstone River south, the Rocky Mountains on the west, and as far east as where mid-Saskatchewan and North Dakota are. Today there are two Black- feet Reserves, one in Alberta, Canada, another in Montana. Two other tribes are very closely related to the Blackfeet; they are the "Kai-nah," Blood, and Pikuni or Piegan (pronounced Pay-gan'). These tribes are on their own reserve, and are politically independent. However, they speak the same language, share much of the same customs, and intermarry; so, it has become customary to speak of these tribes as one people under the general name of Blackfoot, or Blackfeet. [ml][ul][li indent=0 align=left]Notes... S'waptsa[/li][/ul][/ml]Leroy B. Selam (Yakima)
