A Blackfoot belongs to a collection of photographs shot by Edward S. Curtis, a pioneer in the recording of Native American peoples whose numbers were quickly declining across the United States. This photograph highlights the importance of the hierarchical tribe structure in maintaining order for its people, a convention that slowly dissipates with practices of Native assimilation.

A member of the Blackfoot, a native group indigenous to present-day Montana, sits on a horse adorned with an ornate headpiece made of animal feathers and a garment with dyed fabric. Indicative of high social standing within his community, the subject of the photograph is responsible for providing the staple food source of fish for his people. Those endowed with such a laborious task could use a spear for hunting and a white horse, an animal first introduced through Spanish conquest, for traveling to and from important bodies of water. Curtis depicted the ingenuity and specificity of these valued native artifacts through deluxe photogravure reproductions of his photographs in the eighteenth volume of his compendium, The North American Indian.

The intense concentration of the subject looking intently for a way to capture fish illustrates his dedication and lack of preoccupation with the photographer. During a time of growing focus on advertisements that close the distance between subject and viewer, this Blackfoot man's disengagement allows the photograph to maintain a sense of separation from its interpreters. By preserving the subject’s aura, the photograph seems to represent a rare moment in time that would soon disappear entirely unless captured with a camera.