Cree

From NativeWiki

The Cree are an indigenous people of North America who occupy an area from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean in both Canada and the United States. They now constitute the largest group of First Nations people in Canada and are referred to as Native Americans in the United States. The Cree language is an Algonquian language and was once the most widely spoken in northern North America. Currently, however, not all Crees speak Cree fluently and English is more commonly used in Cree communities in the United States, Western Canada and Ontario. In Quebec, however, almost all Crees speak fluent Cree; English and French are nevertheless used in the work place, public administration, and for external relations.

Skilled buffalo hunters and horsemen, the Cree were allied to the Assiniboine of the Sioux before encountering English and French settlers in the 16th century.

Presently, the remaining Cree in the United States live on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation which is shared with the Chippewa.

1 In Canada
2 Beliefs
3 Cree facts
4 Cree First Nations
5 Notable Cree
6 See also
7 External links

In Canada

Cree Girl (1928).

The Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada, with over 200,000 members. This large number may be due to the Cree's traditional openness to inter-tribal marriage. The largest Cree band, and the second largest First Nations Band in Canada after the Six Nations Iroquois is the Lac La Ronge Band in northern Saskatchewan.

The Métis are a group of mixed Cree and primarily French Canadian heritage, although it is generally accepted in academic circles that the term Métis can be used to refer to any combination of Aboriginal and European lineage. Some Anglo-Metis are also of Cree descent.

The Grand Council of the Crees in Quebec calls its homeland Eeyou Istchee (Cree for 'Land of the People'). Its current leader is Grand Chief Matthew Mukash, formerly Deputy Grand Chief under Ted Moses and more recently CEO of the Whapmagoostui Eeyou Enterprise Development Corporation in Quebec’s northern-most Cree community.

The Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN) is a political group of Cree, Ojibwe and Oji-Cree descendants based in northern Ontario. Its territory encompasses two thirds of the northern half of the province. It comprises 50 First Nation communities, further represented by regional Tribal Councils denoting each territorial area of Cree, Ojibwe and Oji-Cree peoples. The word nishnawbe means 'people' in all these related languages. Similarly, aski means 'land' in all the languages and is similar to the Quebec Cree word 'istchee'. Cree and Ojibwe are Algonquian languages that share many similarities and are separated by subtle differences in dialects from region to region.

Beliefs

Mähsette Kuiuab, chief of the Cree indians

The tribes of the Cree Nation, living in the Canadian forests and US plains, venerated the spirits of the hunt. The Earth Spirit was the mother of all animals, and there was also a less-defined Sky being. Religion emphasized a close relationship with the tribes' ancestors or "old people", believed to be always near at hand. Tribal shamans frequently entered trances to visit the land of the dead. Nature was seen as an integrated whole, so that animals spoke and told tales, and legends of the winds and of the four directions were common. Close contact with European traders and white settlers, coupled with the adoption of agriculture, greatly altered the mythology of these tribes.

Cree facts

(Source: Canadian Geographic)

Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada with over 200,000 members.
There are 135 bands of Cree in Canada.
Cree cover the largest geographic area of any First Nations group in Canada.
The Quebec Cree Nation calls its homeland Eeyou Istchee, which means Land of the People, there are 9 communities in Eeyou Istchee.
The Cree language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algic linguistic stock.
The Cree were friendly with English and French fur traders, which connected them to the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company.