Blackfeet Tales from Apikuni’s World

by James Willard Schultz

At the turn of the twentieth century, James Willard Schultz wrote a series of tales centering on the adventures of a Blackfoot Indian boy and his Anglo friend in the days just prior to the end of the buffalo era on the western plains. All the tales appeared between 1910 and 1927 in the pages of the popular family weekly The Youth’s Companion. The stories featured the sort of spirited adventure popular at the time, but Schultz was more conscientious than other writers of the day in his depiction of American Indian life. Schultz first encountered the Blackfeet in Montana Territory in 1877, when he was seventeen, and he lived among them for the next seventy years until his death. These tales are based on his experiences with the Blackfeet, who gave him the name Apikuni. Apikuni plays a role in many of the stories, usually under the name Spotted Robe. Although he was neither a historian nor an ethnologist, Schultz filled his stories with history, and with detailed descriptions of the Blackfoot daily life and culture. David C. Andrews has gathered these tales, the last of Schultz’s to be published in book form, and arranged in the order in which they were written.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2002

About the author

James Willard Schultz, or Apikuni, (born August 26, 1859, died June 11, 1947) was a noted author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfoot Indians.

James Willard Schultz (J.W. Schultz) started writing at the age of 21, publishing articles and stories in Forest and Stream for 15 years. He did not write his first book until 1907 at age 48. The memoir: ''My Life as an Indian tells the story of his first year living with the Pikuni tribe of Blackfeet Indians East of Glacier. In 1911, he associated himself with publishers Houghton Mifflin who published Schultz's subsequent books for the next 30 years. In all, Schultz wrote and published 37 fiction and non-fiction books dealing with the Blackfoot, Kootenai, and Flathead Indians. His works received critical literary acclaim from the general media as well as academia for his story telling and contributions to ethnology. Sometime after 1902, while living in Southern California, Schultz worked for a while as the literary editor of the Los Angeles Times.

Reviews

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this while travelling through Blackfoot Nation in Montana. Schultz was Caucasian, but lived amongst the Blackfoot tribe and was all but a native. This book is a collection of tales published in various contemporary places of his time. The stories are not pure history. Schultz was both a skilled writer and had an American audience, so it was not entirely authentic, much as biopic movies today aren't. But it's great fiction nonetheless, and holds up well over the years. Great book!

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got into Schultz books while researching my Blackfoot ancestry. I love that he dictates books from the oral storytellers. Schultz books give amazing details of culture before European contact.