Walter Wetzel was born on June 27, 1915 near Cut Bank Creek on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. He became well-known by the nickname “Blackie,” derived from his Indian name (Siks-A-Num) which means “Blackfeet Man” or “Man of the Blackfeet People.”
Blackie worked on the family cattle ranch on the Blackfeet Reservation while attending school in Browning, where he claimed to have made the first touchdown in the school’s football program history. He was recruited to play basketball his senior year at Shelby High School, and he graduated after leading their basketball team to the district championship in 1934. Blackie went on to attend the University of Montana, where he was a standout athlete in football, track, and boxing. Blackie also participated in the ROTC program and studied history and political science under then-professor Mike Mansfield, who later served as a United States congressman and a Montana state senator. Mansfield became Blackie’s mentor and one of his closest friends. They were given the Distinguished Alumnus Award together at the University of Montana in 1990.
Blackie entered politics in 1948. He was elected to the Blackfeet Business Council and became Tribal Chairman in 1950. In 1960, Blackie became the first tribal leader from Montana to sit as President of the National Congress of American Indians oldest Native American and Alaskan Native advocacy organization.
Blackie also worked for the U.S. Department of Labor and Job Corps to address housing and employment issues in Indian Country. He supported tribal governance and self-determination and traveled to Indigenous communities nationwide, promoting programs to alleviate unemployment, wealth disparity, and over-crowding. He was known for denouncing assimilation policies and for his advocacy on behalf of landless Indian tribes.
In 1971, Blackie drew upon the relationships he built through his career in Washington, D.C. to convince the National Football League’s Washington Redskins team to replace the letter “R” on their helmets with a composite Native American image he designed to honor the country’s first peoples and symbolize their strength, pride, courage, and service.
Blackie raised the profile of the Blackfeet people into a national consciousness. He died at the age of 88 on November 8, 2003, but various Wetzel descendents have continued his tradition of pursuing education, excellence in athletics, and advocating for tribal causes.