Cree
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (Over 200,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Canada, United States | |
| Languages | |
| Cree, Cree Sign Language, English, French | |
| Religion | |
| Anglicanism, Pentecostalism, Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Métis, Oji-Cree, Ojibwe, Innu |
The Cree (historical autonym: Nēhiyaw; French: cri) are one of the largest groups of First Nations in North America, with over 200,000 members living in Canada. The major proportion of Cree in Canada live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories. About 38,000 live in Quebec.
In the United States, this Algonquian-speaking people historically lived from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share a reservation with the Ojibwe (Chippewa).
The documented westward migration over time has been strongly associated with their roles as traders and hunters in the North American fur trade.
The Cree are generally divided into eight groups based on dialect and region. These divisions do not necessarily represent ethnic sub-divisions within the larger ethnic group:
Due to the many dialects of the Cree language, there is no modern collective autonym. The Plains Cree and Attikamekw refer to themselves using modern forms of the historical nêhiraw, namely nêhiyaw and nêhirawisiw, respectively. Moose Cree, East Cree, Naskapi, and Montagnais all refer to themselves using modern dialectal forms of the historical iriniw, meaning 'man.' Moose Cree use the form ililiw, coastal East Cree and Naskapi use iyiyiw (variously spelled iiyiyiu, iiyiyuu, and eeyou), inland East Cree use iyiniw (variously spelled iinuu and eenou), and Montagnais use ilnu and innu, depending on dialect. The Cree use "Cree," "cri," "Naskapi, or "montagnais" to refer to their people only when speaking the languages of the European colonists, French or English.
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