Distinctly Montana Magazine

24 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 The preeminent status of Chief Mountain in Blackfoot sacred geography is illustrated by the experience of James Willard Schul- tz. In October 1883, he accompanied a group of hunters to the St. Mary lakes area. Profoundly impressed by his first close glimpses of the Rocky Mountains, Schultz inquired about the names of peaks visible from their vantage point. Sol Abbot informed him that "only that farther one in sight ahead, standing out as though in the lead of the others, (whose east face formed) an almost sheer cliff," was named. After learning that it was called Nina Istukwi ("Chief Mountain"), Schultz con- cluded that "never had a mountain been more ap- propriately named." The first detailed ac- count of Chief Mountain appeared in an article pub- lished in 1895 by Henry L. Stimson. Almost fifty years later, as Secretary of War, he directed the Manhattan Project to fruition. In September 1892, however, Stimson was a member of the first non-Indian party to climb Ninaistákis. At its summit, they discovered evidence of the mountain's long history of ceremonial use. On terrain far too rug- ged for bison to traverse, three bison skulls were found, two of which were so old "that the black sheaths of their horns had been worn away by winds and storms, and the sheaths of the other horns had turned from black to yellowish white." Their Piikáni guide, Paiota Satsiko ("Comes-with-Rattles"), told them that these relics were used as pillows during vision quests. After learning of Stimson's findings, Schultz asked Ahko Pitsu ("Returns-with-Plenty"), a knowledgeable source on Piikáni history, for more information about the skulls. Ahko Pitsu explained that his friend and adviser, Miah, took one of them to Chief Mountain's summit, where he found two others, including "the fasting pillow of that powerful, long-ago warrior, Eagle Head." Oral history apparently did not preserve the iden- tity of the other supplicant. Stimson climbed Ninaistákis again in 1913. He arrived just as two men were breaking camp, following a successful ascent of the mountain. In conversation with the young climbers, Stimson re- counted his previous experience and asked them if they had seen a bison skull on the peak's summit. As proof of their discovery, one climber revealed the skull described by Stimson, who then proceeded to share the story associated with its use. Perhaps feel- ing a sense of guilt about disturbing a religious relic, the climber gave the skull to Stimson, who reburied it deep among rocks on the summit. Stimson ultimately returned from Chief Mountain "satisfied that the old chief and his totem would sleep in peace hereafter." ACCORDING TO AN ACCOUNT PROVIDED IN 1905 BY BRINGS-DOWN-THE-SUN, A NORTH PIIKÁNI HOLY MAN, THE LONG-TIME-PIPE, WHICH IS THE OLDEST PIIKÁNI SACRED PIPE, WAS VISIONED LONG AGO AT NINAISTÁKIS. Brings-Down- The-Sun James Willard Schultz ROBERT SCHMITTOU

• Cover