Chinook Trade Jargon

Indian Sign Language

Hudson's Bay Company

Ac ko mok ki's Map, 1801

Vancouver's Voyage

Crossing the Rockies

Trade Negotiations

Ac ko mok ki's Map, 1801

This remarkable document illustrates the confidence Native people possessed in their knowledge of their environment. It also demonstrates the relationships that had been forged between Indians and Europeans prior to the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Drawn first in the snow by Ac ko mok ki, a Blackfeet leader, in February 1801, this map was copied onto paper by Hudson’s Bay Company trader, Peter Fidler.

Ac ko mok ki’s map describes a region of some 200,000 square miles. It is drawn with west at the top of the page; the double line crossing from left to right represents the Rocky Mountains. It shows two rivers running west from the Rockies, and seventeen rivers flowing east. The Missouri River is represented by the line down the center of the map. Fidler added details regarding the Native American tribal populations in the region.

Peter Fidler. An Indian Map of the Different Tribes that Inhabit on the East and West Side of the Rocky Mountains with all the Rivers and Other Remarkable Places, also the number of tents etc. Drawn by Feathers or Ac Ko Mok Ki - A Blackfoot Chief. Feburary 7, 1801.