Cree
- A tribe of Algonquian Indians who ranged the northern Plains. They
were buffalo hunters and horsemen. Early in their history they became
closely associated with the Assiniboin, a Sioux tribe which had broken
away from their family group.
The Cree were friendly with the white man
from their first meetings with the English and the French. Many historians
have spoken of their superior qualities. They had a ceremonial pipe
which the whites called a "medicine pipe." The Cree believed that
this pipe guarded the welfare of their people.
They held an annual feast at which they
ate the flesh of a dog. One of their customs was that when a man's
wife died, he was obliged to marry her sister, if she had one.
Today the remnant of this once powerful
tribe lives with the Assiniboin on the Fort Belknap Agency and Reservation
in Montana.
Related Information
within this Site
[ Assiniboin
]