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Paper short abstract:

The homeland of the Blackfoot consists of a series of named places connected by paths, movement and narratives. During their annual movement across this landscape, humans behaved as stewards in their interactions with their non-human relatives and, in the process, created the 'pristine' prairies.

Paper long abstract:

Researchers today acknowledge the impact of Indigenous populations on the supposed ‘pristine’ environments of ecologists but few accept the nature and extent of landscape management practices by nomadic bison hunters such as the Blackfoot of western North America. Unlike the ecosystem of ecologists, the homeland of the Blackfoot includes an upper, a middle, and a lower world, each of which is populated with sentient beings who treat each other with respect. The Blackfoot homeland is also more than a series of resource patches; it is a succession of named places connected by paths, movement, narratives, songs and rituals. The narratives explain the origins of the homeland and the history of the group whereas the songs and rituals ensure the renewal of the land, the resources and the people. More than the pursuit of bison, the annual movement across the homeland is simultaneously an historical journey, a social odyssey, and a ritual pilgrimage where the respectful treatment of non-human relatives involves prayers and offerings during the harvest, processing and disposal of the remains. Beyond such species-level practices, the Blackfoot engaged in community-level and landscape-level management practices such as the selective harvest and displacement of resources and the use of controlled burns to create summer and winter pastures for the bison. To the Blackfoot then, the resources are available because of the actions of their culture heroes and the practices of their ancestors and their role as stewards is to behave accordingly to ensure the renewal of the homeland for future generations.