8/14/2019 Luiza - Indg People's Project

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/luiza-indg-peoples-project 1/1

Cree Food

Cree people mostly eat Caribou, fish, beavers, bears,hares, ducks, geese, berries, and porcupines. Thetypes of fish they found on rivers and lakes werewhitefish, salmon, pike, and pickerel. They usedfishing nets, bows and arrows, and spears forhunting. The fishing nets were set below the ice tocatch fish in winter. They also used rocks to makearrowheads and knives.There is a type of food called Pemmican, it was madewith dried bits of caribou, buffalo, or moose meatwith fat, sometimes they put berries in it too. Theyate this in the winter time.

What happened when the Creeencountered Europeans?

When the Cree encountered English and French furtraders in the 1600s, the Europeans set up tradingposts and the Cree bought beaver furs to the poststhe Europeans had made. The French and Englishsold the furs to make money (they did that back inEurope). Some Cree woman married Frenchexplorers and traders. Some Europeans were sick

with smallpox and other diseases, therefore manyCree died of these diseases. Attikamek Cree gotsmallpox in the mid-1600s, it wiped out the wholegroup. Smallpox hit the Cree families, and tribes inthe 1784s and in the 1838s causing more problems.Instead of losing their land to the Europeans they alllived together.

Cree Shelter 

The Cree made many different kinds of sheltersdepending on where they lived. These includedteepees and wooden dwellings. Cree homes weretemporary and when there was no more food in thearea the Cree went to other places in Canada and inparts of the U.S.A. to live. Their homes weremostly made of their natural environment. Theframe was mostly made of light wooden poles, theycovered these with animal hides, branches, matsmade of wooden rushes, strips of bark and pieces ofsod. They left a hole in the middle of their homes sothe fire smoke could come out.

Cree Art

Cree woman made fancy beadwork. They decoratedclothing and other objects with beads made ofshells, rocks, clay, and porcupine quills. WhenEuropean traders came to Canada, they broughtbeads with them. The beads were made ofdifferent materials, and were different shapes,sizes, and colours than those the Cree made. Creewoman liked the new beads, and traded them foranimal skins. Cree also made boxes and basketsmade out of birch bark. The Cree decorated thesebaskets with animals and geometric designs. Therewere two ways to decorate the boxes and basketsof birch bark. The Cree made vegetable dyes anddyed the baskets, and boxes, and got dark bark andcarved designs on them. The bark was lightest on

the inside so the carving stood out.

Cree Religion and Tradition

At Cree funerals the dead persons relatives wash thebody, then they wrap it in Birch or Spruce bark. Creeburials made in winter were a little different. Theywould lay the body on the ground on a bark coffin.For both types of of burial they place weapons,clothes, and animal bones with the body. AtPowwows, (four days when Cree tribes get together)

the Cree hold dance competitions. They dance todrumbeats and sing. Cree dress in their best nativecostumes and everyone joins in for the last dance.

Cree Clothing

The Cree made their clothes out of the naturalenvironment. They made fur jackets and parkas,moccasins and leggings that were made out ofanimal hide. They stuffed the moccasins withgrass. They also used rabbit-fur socks for extrawarmth on those cold Canadian winters. Womansoftened the skins of animals with a mixture ofanimal brains, liver and fat.

Cree Introduction

Cree are large groups of Native Americans who havelived in Canada and parts of the U.S.A. for thousandsof years. They were living in these places before thefirst French settlers arrived. About 200,000 Cree livein Canada, and about 8,000 Cree live in the U.S.A.There are different types of Cree tribes. Some tribesare the Eastern Cree, Plains Cree, Woodlands Cree,East and West Swampy Cree, Moose Cree, and theAttikamek Cree. Cree children who are mixed nation,meaning they are part white and part native Cree arecalled Metis.

The Cree of North America

Project by; LuizaGrade 4 Bibliography

Robinson Deborah B, The Cree of North America,Minneapolis, Lerner Publications, 2002