https://fourviewshist181.jenniferandrella.com/exhibits/show/four-views-of-a-piikstaan-prot/overview
The impetus for choosing the item that I eventually did for this project was, admittedly, very silly. I saw “Has a Nothing Face” while cycling through the Blackfoot Digital Library’s collection, and was instantly hooked. The item itself appeared to be a snake charm of some sort, made of beads and leather, which was interesting in and of itself, but the name was on another level of allure. What does it mean to have a “nothing face?” Why was the name worded in the way that it was, generally? And, importantly, the snake charm appeared to have beads to represent eyes on the top of the head, and didn’t that constitute a face?
“Has a nothing face” is, as I now understand, the literal translation of naamsskii, the Blackfoot word for lizard. Why it is worded that way I still could not tell you, but at the very least, it was one mystery solved. As for the amulet itself, it presented many more mysteries of its own.
This protective amulet, or piikstaan, as it is called in the Blackfoot language, was a charm created by a mother of the Piikani Nation, as a gift for her newborn son. It served multiple practical purposes for the child, such as being the first toy they would receive, as well as acting as a form of identification with its bright and unique beadwork, but it also contains the dried umbilical cord in a secure interior pouch, and is thought to bind the mother and son in that way. We know that this amulet was created for a son and not a daughter because of the aforementioned serpent shape. Boys, as I learned, would receive a naamsskii, or lizard, whereas girls would receive a sspopii’s, or turtle shaped piikstaan. And because of this gendered difference, we today know the gender of the amulet’s original owner. And I now know three different words in the Blackfoot language. Neat.
As for the other general information, the amulet was crafted out of animal hides, likely from food animals, sinew, likely taken from a deer or buffalo, and most importantly, the beads. Beadwork plays a very important role in Native American artwork and culture, with bead patterns integrating kinship networks through color and design. Generally, yellow, which is the predominant color of this piikstaan, represents the dawn, which could be a symbol of birth. Blue, which can be found in the eyes/head pattern of the lizard, is associated with femininity and wisdom, potentially tying the charm back to its maternal creator. Crucially, though, the beads used for this piikstaan were found to have been manufactured in Europe, meaning that they were initially brought by the European colonists as trade goods, before making their way to the Blackfoot nation, and eventually the Piikani people. All of this information was provided by the Blackfoot Digital Archive, aside from the speculation, which was my own.
It is when attempting to pinpoint the exact origin of this amulet that we run across our first major mystery. According to the Blackfoot Digital Library, this piikstan was first documented in August of 1929, meaning that all knowledge of who specifically created it, as well as when it was created, has been lost. The amulet was purchased by Robert R. Rymill of Cambridge University directly from the Piikani nation, and so we know at least that it did not leave that site of origin before being documented. As a result, we are forced to rely entirely upon European documentation.
Another mystery lay in the object itself. The 3D model of the piikstaan presented on the Blackfoot Digital Library website was apparently created using photogrammetry, meaning that rather than creating a 3D model from scratch, it was scanned instead, and this definitely shows in the finished product. The model is low-poly, and the textures are low resolution, and yet because of this, one interesting detail was left in to be studied. On the underside of the amulet’s head, when flipping the 3D model over, you can find what appears to be a series of numbers. As a result of the low resolution, they are difficult to make out, but my interpretation was “30. 1.024,” with a handful of other dark spots around out that I decided probably wasn’t the result of intentional marking. Because these numbers were a part of the same low-res texture as the leather they were on top of, I theorized that this number was some kind of internal identification used by Cambridge University, which had been printed onto the real, physical amulet. And sure enough, with a little digging, I was able to find the amulet’s listing on the Museum of Anthropology and Archeology website. And this page confirmed that the item’s reference number was, in fact, “1930.1024; P104,” an abbreviated version of what can be found on the amulet’s 3D model. I suspect that 1930 was the year the amulet was finally brought back to Cambridge after it was purchased by Rymill in 1927, whereupon it was marked, and entered their system. 10/24 might be the date of that entry in 1930, but as for what P104 means, I am unfortunately still ignorant.
Finally, having covered all of the information which appeared in my project, I wanted to return to my fascination with the amulet’s name. Why does the word for lizard in the Blackfoot language translate to “has a nothing face?” Is this just a poor English translation? Is there a story attached to the naming of this animal in Blackfoot history? So I did some digging. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the primary language spoken by the Blackfoot peoples was Siksikáí’powahsin, which I am glad that I only have to write, instead of attempting to pronounce it. Aside from the language’s name, however, and the fact that it is a member of the Algonquain language family, Encyclopedia Britannica couldn’t tell me much more about it. With the name, though, I could narrow my search, which brought me to the Canadian Encyclopedia website’s page on Siksikáí’powahsin. According to Encyclopedia Canadian, Siksikáí’powahsin was spoken by four members of the Blackfoot nation, those being Siksiká, Kainai, Aapátohsipikani, and Aamsskáápipikani. Those latter two are also known as North Piikani and South Piikani, which means that I definitely have found what I’m looking for. Unfortunately, I was unable to learn the origin of the word for lizard, however, I did learn something objectively more important; Siksikáí’powahsin is a dying language. Almost certainly as a result of European colonization, the number of new speakers of the Blackfoot language decreases every year, with a current estimated total of only 1,500 speakers. Although it is unthinkable that something as monumental and titanic as an entire language can perish, many have. Thankfully, it seems that some classes in Alberta Canada have taken up the cause, and now teach the language in grade school, so that hopefully, it will not become yet another casualty of colonization.
In my final reflection, I would lastly like to point out how fun it was to do research for this project, even if I couldn’t end it on a totally positive note. It truly has been inspiring to see how much work is being done to preserve a history that our collective societies are so willing to consider unworthy of continuation and consideration, and I am happy to play some small, insignificant part in all of it.
Works Cited:
Mootookakio’ssin: Distant Awareness, mootookakiossin.ca/explore/objects/amulet_MAA_1929/intro. Accessed 25 June 2024.
Home, collections.maa.cam.ac.uk/objects/487824/. Accessed 25 June 2024.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Blackfoot”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Blackfoot-people. Accessed 25 June 2024.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Blackfoot”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Blackfoot-people. Accessed 25 June 2024.