Beneath the animal hides or woven fabrics, some of the sacred bundles were so small they held a single amulet. Others were so large, stuffed with dozens of objects ranging from headdresses and clothing, to weapons and shields used in warfare, that even a grown man would struggle to heave them a distance.
For generations, Blackfoot peoples would use sacred bundles in elaborate and secret ceremonies that tied the northern plains Indians to the land and instilled a sense of history and social order in the community.
But over the years, the sacred bundles made their way into the hands of museum curators and private collectors around the world, as native bands wrestled with the loss of the bison, modernization and dwindling homegrown interest in cultural traditions.
"Normally, those items are very precious, but with the economic times they were facing, there was starvation, and now it's a different generation that's embracing our culture and trying to make sure it doesn't happen again," Rick Tailfeathers, a spokesman for the Blood Tribe in Southern Alberta, said.
Thursday night, aboriginal leaders will be joined by Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, former premier and honorary chief Ralph Klein and others, in Lethbridge, to celebrate a unique legislative effort that has helped return more than 100 scared bundles containing 200 ceremonial objects to bands in the Blackfoot Confederacy.
"It's like a revival, in a way, of our ceremonies. It's a pretty positive thing that's happened," Mr. Tailfeathers said.
Collectors are believed to own more items of historical significance to native bands than do Canadian aboriginal people. Pieces have fetched more than $1-million on the open market. Rarely do sacred bundles go up for auction, but band chiefs in Alberta have been lobbying for their recovery.
As a result, in 2000, Alberta passed the First Nations Sacred Ceremonial Objects Repatriation Act to return sacred objects from provincial collections at the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton and Glenbow Museum in Calgary to the communities. Amendments were passed last year to cover an additional 17 bundles with 80 objects at the museums.
That amendment was the first piece of legislation that Lindsay Blackett introduced as Minister of Culture and Community Spirit. "It was the right thing to do," he said.
Alberta says there's no similar legislation in the country. It does not apply to private owners or groups other than Blackfoot, but Mr. Blackett isn't ruling out an expansion.
Gerry Conaty, director of indigenous studies at Glenbow, said that since 1990 his museum has returned 70 pieces, ranging from a single object to bundles that could have 50 to 60 items. Non-profit Blackfoot entities give them to families for use in sacred rituals, such as the sun dance ceremony.
"Some were sold just for the money, and others were offered to the museum to protect them, to keep them here, because the community wasn't respecting them, according to the owners," Mr. Conaty said. "We thought about that and thought, well, maybe it's time the community is respecting them again, and we'll take the chance, and it paid off."
Few will talk about what the objects represent. Only those to whom the bundle has been transferred and witnesses of ceremonies - with permission - can disclose the significance. Bundles and their contents aren't to be photographed or displayed to the public. The two museums kept most of the objects in storage.
According to information from the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, about 100 kilometres east of Calgary, sacred bundles were given to the Blackfoot by a supernatural spirit encountered usually in dreams or visions, as a means of connection, and a way to ask for help from the creator. They are to be displayed in certain ways indoors and outside. Their mere presence commands respect.
"Often, you're not allowed to be loud or noisy around them, so the children get brought up to be very quiet and well-behaved," Mr. Conaty said. "There's no alcohol around them, and no misbehaving around them."
Glenbow has a few sacred objects left. Returning them is a complex process, and communities don't automatically get them back.
"If these go into places where it's not good for them to be, then instead of being a good thing, it's a bad thing, and it can hurt people," Mr. Conaty said.