How

About the Cree People(How)

__How did it start?__ With the First Nations peoples, there are eight different stories of creation and their adaptations. These are the earth diver, world parent, emergence, conflict, robbery, rebirth of corpse, two creators and their contests, and the brother myth.

__How did it end?__ The Cree society has not ended, and doesn't plan to for as long as they can keep it alive.

__How did it change over time?__ The Past- The Ojibway, whose ancestors are called the Anishinabeg, or First People, refer to the Cree as Kinistenoog, "They Who Were First". The Woodland Cree remained culturally intact, since their lives did not require changing. However, as the Cree became more and more dependent on the Plains, their culture began to change and take on certain attributes of their Sioux, Lakota, and Pawnee neighbors. The Plains Cree, during the late 1700's through the mid-1800's lived in harmony with the buffalo. The buffalo also provided the Cree with rawhide for clothing, bones to make weapons and tools, and a seemingly infinite number of other resources. No part of the buffalo went un-used. Within the Cree community there was a very specific division of labor between the men and women. Women were generally the food gatherers. Women spent their days foraging, checking trap lines, tanning hides, making snowshoes, hauling wood, and making, mending, and decorating clothing. Men were excellent hunters and fishers.Moose, beaver, ptarmigan, geese, ducks, and bear were all eaten by the Woodland Cree. The rivers and lakes provided an large amount of sturgeon, walleye, and trout. When the men were not hunting or fishing, they spent their time making tools, weapons, and canoes. During the fur trade, Cree populations throughout Canada were severely reduced because they were forced relocat and the diseases that the Europeans brought. Because the diseases had never been encountered by the Cree before then, their bodies did not have the proper immune systems and a lot died because of it.

Today- Today, people of the Cree Nation can be found throughout Canada (Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Quebec), and parts of Montana. About 120,000 Cree live in 135 bands in Canada. They have the largest population and are spread over the largest geographic area of any of the native groups in Canada. The Cree are one of the only nations who have lived in the eastern boreal forest and western Plains. While most Cree live in homes today, there is a increasing interest among the Cree to rediscover their history and ancestors. Throughout Canada there are programs and classes that modern Cree can take to better understand where they have come from by learning about their history.