Blackfoot

Blackfoot, also called Niitsíʼpowahsin (ᖹᒧᐧᑲᖷᐦᓱᐡ) or Siksiká (/ˈsɪksəkə/ SIK-sə-kə; Blackfoot: [sɪksiká], ᓱᖽᐧᖿ), is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or Niitsitapi people, who currently live in the northwestern plains of North America. There are four dialects, three of which are spoken in Alberta, Canada, and one of which is spoken in the United States: Siksiká / ᓱᖽᐧᖿ (Blackfoot), to the southeast of Calgary, Alberta; Kainai / ᖿᐟᖻ (Blood, Many Chiefs), spoken in Alberta between Cardston and Lethbridge; Aapátohsipikani / ᖳᑫᒪᐦᓱᑯᖿᖹ (Northern Piegan), to the west of Fort MacLeod which is Brocket (Piikani) and Aamsskáápipikani / ᖳᐢᐧᖿᑯᑯᖿᖹ (Southern Piegan), in northwestern Montana. The name Blackfoot probably comes from the blackened soles of the leather shoes that the people wore.

A sign at the Siksika Health and Wellness Centre in Siksika 146 reads "Oki", a Blackfoot greeting. There is a distinct difference between Old Blackfoot (also called High Blackfoot), the dialect spoken by many older speakers, and New Blackfoot (also called Modern Blackfoot), the dialect spoken by younger speakers. Among the Algonquian languages, Blackfoot is relatively divergent in phonology and lexicon. The language has a fairly small phoneme inventory, consisting of 11 basic consonants and three basic vowels that have contrastive length counterparts. Blackfoot is a pitch accent language. Blackfoot language has been declining in the number of native speakers and is classified as either a threatened or endangered language, depending on the source used.