Cree

[kree]

Cree, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They formerly inhabited the area S of Hudson Bay and James Bay in what is now Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba S of the Churchill River. Members of one branch of the Cree, allying themselves with the Siouan Assiniboin, moved southwestward into buffalo territory and became the Plains Cree. It is probable that they introduced the method of hunting buffalo by driving them into enclosures, since the Woodland Cree used this method in hunting deer. The traditional culture and language of the Woodland Cree greatly resembles that of the Ojibwa.

A warlike tribe, the Cree were nevertheless friendly toward French and English fur traders, and their history is closely connected with the activities of the Hudson's Bay and the North West companies. They were powerful in the late 18th cent. until smallpox drastically reduced their population. In 1884 they were involved in the second Riel Rebellion (see Riel, Louis), in Saskatchewan.

About 200,000 Cree live in 135 bands in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. They have the largest population and are spread over the largest geographic area of any aboriginal group in Canada. In the 1990s, Cree living in N Quebec waged strong opposition to the province's planned massive James Bay hydroelectric project, but in 2002 they negotiated an agreement with Quebec that permitted partial hydroelectric development, mining, and logging in exchange for jobs and $3.5 billion in financing (over 50 years). The agreement also recognized the autonomy of the Cree as a native nation. In 1990 there were over 8,000 Cree in the United States, some of them sharing a reservation in Montana with the Ojibwa.

See L. Mason, The Swampy Cree (1967); E. T. Denig, Five Indians Tribes of the Upper Missouri (1975).

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Licensed from Columbia University Press

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Cree

One of the major Algonquian-speaking Indian peoples of Canada, living mainly in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The name is a truncated form of the name Kristineaux, the French traders' version of the self-name of the James Bay band. The Cree formerly occupied an immense area from western Quebec to eastern Alberta. They acquired firearms and engaged in the fur trade with Europeans beginning in the 17th century. There were two major divisions: the Woodland Cree and the Plains Cree, both of which were typical representatives of American Subarctic peoples. Social organization in both groups was based on local bands. Among the Woodland Cree, rituals and taboos relating to the spirits of game animals were pervasive, as was fear of witchcraft. Among the more militant Plains Cree, rites intended to foster success in warfare and the bison hunt were common. Cree descendants numbered some 90,000 in the early 21st century.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Cree

Not to be confused with the Creek.

Cree is an exonym applied to various people indigenous to North America, namely the Nehiyaw, Nehithaw, Nehilaw, Nehinaw, Ininiw, Ililiw, Iynu, and Iyyu. These peoples can be divided into two major groups, those that identify themselves using a derivative of their historical appellation Nehilâw and those identifying themselves using the word "person", historically Iliniw. Both groups share a common ancestry but are now divided mainly along linguistic lines. Those residing west of the Ontario border (except for the Rocky Cree sub-group of the Swampy Cree, and one group residing in Quebec mistakenly called Attikamek but who self-identify as Nehiraw) all the way to the Rocky Mountains tend to refer to themselves using the first name, "Nehilaw". The second group includes the Rocky Cree and all the groups east of James Bay, who tend to use the term for man "Iliniw".

Both major groups speak mutually-intelligible languages of the Algonquin language family, generically also referred to as "Cree". "It is not so much a language, as a chain of dialects, where speakers from one community can very easily understand their neighbours, but a Plains Cree speaker from Alberta would find a Québec Cree speaker difficult to speak to without practice. There is a major division between both groups however, in that the Eastern group palatalizes the sound /k/ when it precedes front vowels. There is also a major difference in grammatical vocabulary (particles) between the groups. Within both groups however, there is variation around the pronunciation of the Proto-Algonquian phoneme *l, which can be realized as /l/, /r/, /y/, /n/, or /th/ by different groups.

By definition, the exonym "Cree" is not Cree; it was French slang, and has become part of the English language. Crees generally referred to themselves collectively as Nahathaway (those who speak our language); they called themselves "Cree" only when speaking English or French.

Skilled buffalo hunters and horsemen, the Plains Cree were allied to the Assiniboine and the Sioux before encountering English, Scottish (especially Orcadian) 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.

In Canada

The Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada, with over 200,000 members and 135 registered bands. This large number may be due to the Cree's traditional openness to inter-tribal marriage. Together, their reserve lands are the largest of any First Nations group in the country. 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 (from French Métis - any person of mixed ancestry) are people of mixed ancestry such as Nehiyaw (or Anishinaabe) and French, English, or Scottish heritage. According to the Canadian Government's Indian and Northern Affairs, the Metis were historically the children of French fur traders and Nehiyaw women or, from unions of English or Scottish traders and Northern Dene women (Anglo-Métis). It is now generally accepted though in academic circles that the term Métis can be used to refer to any combination of persons of mixed Native American and European heritage. Although, historical definitions for Metis remain. Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs specifically but broadly define Metis to be those persons of mixed First Nation and European ancestry.

Cree First Nations

Notable Cree

Irene Bedard, actress
Jonathan Cheechoo, NHL hockey player
Michael Greyeyes, actor
Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer
Cree Summer, singer/actress
Gordon Tootoosis, actor
Shania Twain, singer/songwriter born to a father of Cree heritage, adopted by Ojibwa stepfather as a baby.
Janice Acoose, Canadian author, Sakimay (Saulteaux) and Ninankawe Marival Metis ancestry
Lorne Cardinal, Canadian actor