Cree

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This article is about the indigenous people.

For other uses, see Cree (disambiguation).
Cree
Cree camp near Vermilion, Alberta
Total population

over 200,000
Regions with significant populations
Canada, United States
Languages
Cree, English, French
Religions
Related ethnic groups
Métis, Oji-Cree, Ojibwe
Cree Girl (1928).
Cree Girl (1928).
Mähsette Kuiuab, chief of the Cree indians (Karl Bodmer)
Mähsette Kuiuab, chief of the Cree indians (Karl Bodmer)
A Cree woman (right) (Karl Bodmer)
A Cree woman (right) (Karl Bodmer)

The Cree are an indigenous people of North America whose people range 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, in 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 sixteenth century.

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

Contents

[edit] The Cree in Canada

The Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada with over 200,000 members. These large numbers may be due to the traditional Cree practice of being open 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 another political group of Cree, Ojibwe and Oji-Cree descendants based in northern Ontario. The territory of this political group encompasses two thirds of the northern half of the province. Fifty First Nation communities are part of this organization and they are further represented by regional Tribal Councils denoting each territorial area of Cree, Ojibwe and Oji-Cree peoples. The name nishnawbe is a common word shared by the related languages and it means 'people'. Similarly, 'aski' is a common word meaning 'land' in all the languages and is similar to the Quebec Cree word 'istchee'. The Cree and Ojibwe languages are a common Algonquin based language that share many similarities that are is separated by subtle differences in dialects from region to region.

[edit] Cree beliefs

The tribes of the Cree Nation, living in the Canadian forests and U.S. 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, while 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Cree First Nations


Little Red, Sturgeon Lake and Lac la Ronge are all one band in different locations throughout northern Saskatchewan. interestingly, there is a Dakota settlement near Sturgeon Lake. it's name is Wapehton.

[edit] Cree Prophecy

The so called Cree Prophecy: "Only after the last tree has been cut down / Only after the last river has been poisoned / Only after the last fish has been caught / Then will you find that money cannot be eaten" seems to be a shortened version of the Legend of Rainbow Warriors, that is sometimes reported as a Hopi prophecy, sometimes as a prophecy of an old Cree woman. The complete version of this prophecy speaks about trees, rivers, and fish, but not about money:

There was an old lady, from the "Cree" tribe, named "Eyes of Fire", who prophesied that one day, because of the white mans' or Yo-ne-gis' greed, there would come a time, when the fish would die in the streams, the birds would fall from the air, the waters would be blackened, and the trees would no longer be, mankind as we would know it would all but cease to exist. There would come a time when the "keepers of the legend, stories, culture rituals, and myths, and all the Ancient Tribal Customs" would be needed to restore us to health. They would be mankinds’ key to survival, they were the "Warriors of the Rainbow". (Lelanie Stone)

Instead, it speaks about an army of "Rainbow Warriors" that will appear to save the world. Thus, the sense of the prophecy differs from the wide-spread shortened version.

In Germany the Cree Prophecy is often mixed up with the famous speech of Chief Seattle in 1854. The Smith version of this speech closes with a prophecy that resembles the legend of Rainbow Warriors.

[edit] Notable Cree

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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