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D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E
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FA L L 2 0 2 3
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N FEBRUARY OF 1801, A BLACKFOOT CHIEF NAMED AKO
MIC MI, TRANSLATED AS FEATHERS, TRAVELED ON
HORSEBACK TO THE CONFLUENCE OF THE RED DEER
AND SASKATCHEWAN RIVERS IN PRESENT-DAY CANADA TO
VISIT THE FIRST TRADING POST EVER ESTABLISHED ON THE
NORTHERN PLAINS. Having heard that a new arrival sought de-
tailed information about the local area, Ako Mic Mi (sometimes
spelled Ac ko mok ki) came to the Chesterfield House that day
to share with Hudson Bay surveyor Peter Fidler what Indigenous
people had been trading there since time immemorial—relevant
and topical knowledge of the world. Because his knowledge
came from an oral tradition and he had no handheld map to give
to Peter, Feathers instead drew a balanced and centered dia-
gram of lines on the ground and then communicated the details
to Fidler using the spoken Blackfoot language and Plains Sign.
Fidler copied the lines of the diagram into his journal and then
added demographic and geographic footnotes related to him
through Feathers's oral communication.
The final copy of Feathers's map describes a landscape of over
200,000 square miles and stands out as being the most expan-
sive oral account of a geographic region ever recorded on the
continent. Stretching from Oregon to North Dakota, and from
CELEBRATING THE GIFT OF A BLACKFOOT MAP
by DR. SHANE DOYLE
Briiance and Beauty
