History of the Blackfoot

The Blackfoot, or Sao-kitapiiksi which means "Plains People", are one of the many Native American tribes that still live in North America. The Native Americans consist of people whose ancestors had settled in North America thousands of years ago, most likely from Eastern Asia during the Ice Ages. It would have been simple enough for a cross over at these times; the sea levels were much lower than they currently are so there was dry land between Asia and Alaska for them to walk across.
The Blackfoot are a Native American tribe who lived nomadic lives of hunter/gathering. It is believed that it wasn't until only about four hundred years ago that the Blackfoot tribes had migrated from present day Maine and northeastern Canada to the Great Plains.
The Native Americans lifestyles were drastically changed when they made contact with the Europeans that sailed over on their boats in approx. 1500 A.D. However, the Blackfoot people did not make contact until 1690. Many events impacted them at this time. Upon the arrival of the Europeans, the Native Americans were exposed to diseases such as measles and smallpox. About fifty percent of the Native American population could not overcome the diseases and died.
Source: Wikipedia
They were also introduced to guns which had terrible outcomes. The Native Americans used the guns to fight amongst each other and were eventually forced to take sides in fights between the French and British. However, a positive outcome of European arrival was the introduction of horses. The Blackfoot were able to obtain guns and horses in the mid 1700's. The Blackfoot thrived for years on horses hunting buffalo with a method known as "buffalo jump". The Blackfoot would ride their horses in a V-shaped pattern and trap the buffalo on the inside of it, leading them toward a cliff. They would force the buffalo to charge off the cliff where they could then collect as much meat as they needed at the bottom.

Reference: http://books.google.com/books?id=w08QJwpzJM4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=blackfoot+history&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xhthU8-TMYLlsATUzoKQDw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=true