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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. Plains Cree is an Algonquian language, often considered a dialect of Cree, spoken by about 34,000 people in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Montana. In the southern parts of its territory it is now spoken only by older people, but in the northern parts use of the language remains vigorous.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. The Name The name Cree was an abbreviated form of Kristinaux, the French version of a Cree name for themselves, Kenistenoag. They were of the Algonquian language family. The Plains Crees were buffalo-hunting people whose range was almost entirely in Canada, north of the Assiniboins and the Sioux. [Lewis & Clark] Clark's statement that they "Speak the Chippewa" refered to the Chippewas, or Ojibways, who also spoke an Algonquian tongue. The Crees were important trading partners with the French and later the British in Canada. The Crees live in several Canadian provinces today and also share a reservation in Montana with the Chippewas.
The Cree in Canada 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. 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.
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)
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Albers, Patricia C. (2001). Santee. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 761-776). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7. |
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 LINKS |
Cree cultural site Grand Council of the Crees (GCC) website Little Red River Cree Nation website |
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