Cree
The Cree (Cree: néhinaw, néhiyaw, nihithaw, etc.; French: Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations.
néhinaw ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐤ
néhiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ etc. | |
|---|---|
A Cree camp, likely in Montana, photographed c. 1893 | |
| Total population | |
| 356,655 (2016 census) Including Atikamekw and Innu | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Canada | |
| Alberta | 95,300 (2016) |
| Saskatchewan | 89,990 (2016) |
| Manitoba | 66,895 (2016) |
| Ontario | 36,750 (2016) |
| British Columbia | 35,885 (2016) |
| Quebec | 27,245 (2016) |
| Languages | |
| Cree, Cree Sign Language, English, French | |
| Religion | |
| Anglicanism, Cree tribal religion, Pentecostalism, Roman Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Métis, Oji-Cree, Ojibwe, Innu, Naskapi | |
In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree or have Cree ancestry. The major proportion of Cree in Canada live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories. About 27,000 live in Quebec.
In the United States, Cree people historically lived from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation with Ojibwe (Chippewa) people.
The documented westward migration over time has been strongly associated with their roles as traders and hunters in the North American fur trade.