Sarcee
The Indian First Nation in what is now Alberta in Canada , usually officially known as Tsuu T'ina or Tsu T'ina (English pronunciation: "Soot-tenna"), belong just as much as the neighboring Daneẕaa ( Dunneza - 'The real ( prototypical) people '- "the true, prototypical people") as well as the Sekani and the Chipewyan to the Northern Athapasques .
In ethnological reports they are still referred to as Sarsi today and in older sources also as Sarcee , both can be derived from the Blackfoot language , as the once hostile Blackfoot the Tsuu T'ina saahsi , sarsi or Sucseqwan ( due to their daring and martial arts ) ( "Bold, courageous people" or "stubborn, defiant people") called.
In their language of the same name, the Sarcee (Tsuut'ina) , they refer to themselves as Tsuu T'ina or Tsu T'ina ("many people" or "a large number of people"). Another translation is "people among beavers" and refers to the similarity with the Daneẕaa or Tsattine (formerly often called Beaver ).
Since their Athapaskan language was very different from the mostly Sioux or Algonquin-speaking tribes on the Northern Plains, the Tsuu T'ina (Sarcee) became the sign language on the Plains (so-called Plains Indian Sign Language ) by the gesture for one Stutterers marked. The allied Blackfoot called them clumsy speakers or speakers that were difficult to understand . Out of necessity, the Tsuu T'ina (Sarcee) became bilingual , using their language in their camps, and using the Blackfoot language with their allies and outsiders. (Dempsey 2001: 629, Jenness 1938: 1-3).
residential area
The Tsuu T'ina inhabited the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains , the parks and plains of northeast British Columbia and northwest Alberta in the 18th and 19th centuries . Their area extended from the Hay River and the Peace River in the north southward between the North Saskatchewan River , Athabasca River , Red Deer River and South Saskatchewan River west of what is now Edmonton ( Nasagachoo - "Big House"), Alberta. They often accompanied their allies, the Blackfoot and Gros Ventre, on their forays to the Yellowstone River in northern Wyoming in the United States . They were the northernmost representatives of the Plains culture, and among the tribes on the Northwestern Plains they were generally considered to be the bravest and most belligerent.
history
Presumably, the Tsuu T'ina separated from their northern relatives, the Daneẕaa , and at the end of the 17th century moved south to their new tribal areas, which were then part of the traditional areas of the Siksika (Blackfoot), Kainai (Blood) and Piegan (Peigan , derived from Piikani) were. The Tsuu T'ina allied themselves with their southern neighbors, the Blackfoot , and formed the Blackfoot Confederation together with the Gros Ventre (Ahahnelin) who lived further south-east . The Tsuu T'ina took over essential features of the three Blackfoot tribes, as similar military associations and the Sun Dance - Ceremony . Tobacco was the only crop and was cultivated ceremonially.
They were constantly at war with tribes outside their tribal area and had a tense relationship with the Woodland Cree in the northeast and the Plains Cree in the east of them (as well as their allies, the Stoney , Woodland Assiniboine (often Northern Assiniboine ) and Plains Ojibwa ), the often alternated between war and peace. In order to capture horses, the Tsuu T'ina made long forays into the Absarokee , Kutenai , Flathead , Northern and Eastern Shoshone, and Plains Assiniboine (often Southern Assiniboine ). They cultivated friendly relations with their Athapaskan relatives in the northeast, the Chipewyan groups, but not with the likewise Athapaskan- speaking Sekani .
The Tsuu T'ina organized themselves into several bands ( English " tribal groups "), each of which consisted of several families who hunted together and each lived under the leadership of a chief:
- Bloods or Klowanga (also called Big Plume's band , consisted of Tsuu T'ina and Kainai (Blood) the Blackfoot , hence their name)
- Broad Grass or Tents Cut Down (also called Crow-Child's band , mostly consisted of Woodland Cree and Tsuu T'ina, their name testifies to their descent from Cree from the north, where the grass is thick and long)
- People Who Hold Aloof ("People who stay away (from others)", also called Crow-Chief's band , consisted almost entirely of Tsuu T'ina, hence their name)
- Uterus ("uterus", also called Old Sarcee's band , consisted of Siksika the Blackfoot and Tsuu T'ina)
- Young Buffalo Robe or Those Who Keep Together (also called Many Horses' band )
The individual families of the bands came together in the summer to hunt bison on the Northern Plains , collected berries and roots and performed ceremonies and dances together. During the rest of the year the bands split up into the individual family clans , who were out and about in the woods as small hunting parties . The bison was the main source of food and was often hunted by several bands together.
In Treaty 7 of 1877, the Tsuu T'ina, together with the Blackfoot and Stoney, ceded their hunting grounds to the government of Canada and moved to a reservation in 1880 .
Demographics
The population of the Tsuu T'ina has fluctuated significantly over the past two centuries as smallpox , scarlet fever, and other plagues ravaged the Northern Plains at regular intervals, beginning with the first epidemic in the 1730s. In 1810 they had recovered from the smallpox epidemic of 1781 and inhabited an estimated 90 tipis (about 420 people). In 1832 their population had more than doubled, probably reaching the number before the epidemic of 1730. The Tsuu T'ina lost more than half of their population in 1835 to smallpox. Smallpox last struck in 1869. In 1871 its population was estimated at 408 people.
The 2001 census counted 1,982 tribal members, today the Tsuu T'ina First Nation counts 2,065 tribal members again (as of 06/2013).
Todays situation
Today they live as Tsuu T'ina First Nation in the reservation Tsuu T'ina Nation 145 , which is on the southwestern outskirts of Calgary (in Sarcee kootsisáw and in Blackfoot moh-kíns-tsis , which both mean "elbow") and 283, 14 km² in size.
The reserve's proximity to the city of Calgary has led to various conflicts. So could 2005, first as a 4-6-lane expressway planned bypass Southwest Calgary Ring Road (general Sarcee Trail extension called) that would have led through the reserve will not be built. When plans also became known that this was only the first phase of the expansion and that it would be possible to expand this to 16 lanes (the construction work for this should be completed by 2035), after long negotiations with the city of Calgary, the Tsuu T'ina voted on June 30, 2009 against the construction of the bypass. Although the Tsuu T'ina agreed in 2011 to seek renewed negotiations, the province of Alberta and the city were not interested. In the meantime, a section within the Calgary city limits of an alternative route was opened in September 2010.
Due to the difficult negotiations about the bypass (since the 1990s), the Tsuu T'ina were initially not allowed to build their planned casino because Calgary feared an increase in traffic. The Gray Eagle Casino & Bingo opened successfully in 2007 and was a great blessing for the Tsuu T'ina: it created jobs and made it possible to finance the scholarships for all of their children as well as the construction of 285 beautiful log houses as well as the new construction and maintenance of streets.
Today the majority of the Tsuu T'ina - approx. 1,500 tribe members - live in the reservation, the rest outside the reservation and approx. 110 Tsuu T'ina in reservations of other First Nations. The reserve has two schools, the Anglican Church of Canada and the Roman Catholic Church , its own fire department , a sports complex, infirmary , a day care center and the Tsuu T'ina Culture Museum . The operational costs of services on the reservation are paid for by the Canadian government (13 million CAD / year) and the Tsuu T'ina Nation (27 million CAD / year). The First Nation also owns the small town called Townsite of Redwood Meadows , approx. 25 km west of Calgary, which was laid out by the Tsuu T'ina Nation around an 18-hole golf course in a spruce forest along the Elbow River and is approx 1,150 inhabitants, but not all of them are tribal members.
language
Their language, the Sarcee (Tsuut'ina) , is now only spoken by about 50 tribal members, but the tribal Tsuu T'ina Gunaha Institute ( Gunaha - "language") in partnership with the University of Calgary has been trying since 2011 the training of 11 teachers of the endangered language - all members of the Tsuu T'ina First Nation - so that they can integrate the Tsuut'ina into the curriculum and thus pass it on to the next generation.
See also
literature
- William C. Sturtevant (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians . Volume 13: Raymond J. DeMallie (Ed.): Plains. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington 2001, ISBN 0-16-050400-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Indian Reserves around Calgary - How and why to pronounce them correctly ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lakeview Community Association - Tsuu T'ina Nation Series - Part 1 ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ the Dakelh called the Daneẕaa Tsat'en, Tsattine or Tza Tinne and the Cree Amiskiwiyiniw or Amisk Wiyiniwak , both means - "beaver people", therefore they were earlier in English as beaver - "beaver" and in ethnological reports as Tsatinne designated
- ↑ called by the Blackfoot omukoyis and by the Stoney titunga - these names correspond to the Tsuu T'ina name and also mean "Big House"
- ↑ Source: Tsuu T'ina Nation - Registered Population as of June, 2013 ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ the place where Calgary later emerged was also called "elbows" in Cree otos-kwunee and in Stoney wincheesh-pah , later as the city grew, the Blackfoot called it moh-kíns-tsis-aká-piyoyis - "many elbows Houses ”, all names refer to the confluence of the Elbow River near Calgary with the Bow River , which forms a capital L as a result
- ↑ Website of the Gray Eagle Casino & Bingo of the Tsuu T'ina ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Website of the Townsite of Redwood Meadows ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Saving Tsuu T'ina: Band hopes new program can revive language, Tradition
- ↑ CBC News | Calgary - 11 graduates trained to teach ailing Tsuu T'ina language
