Cree

Cree

néhinaw ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐤ néhiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ etc.
A Cree camp, likely in Montana, photographed c. 1893
Total population
356,655 (2016 census)[1] Including Atikamekw and Innu
Regions with significant populations
Canada
Alberta	95,300 (2016)[2]
Saskatchewan	89,990 (2016)[2]
Manitoba	66,895 (2016)[2]
Ontario	36,750 (2016)[2]
British Columbia	35,885 (2016)[2]
Quebec	27,245 (2016)[2]
Languages
Cree, Cree Sign Language, English, French
Religion
Anglicanism, Indigenous religion, Pentecostalism, Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Métis, Oji-Cree, Ojibwe, Innu, Naskapi

The Cree, or nehinaw (Cree: néhinaw, néhiyaw, nihithaw, etc.; French: Cri), are a North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations.^[1] They live primarily to the north and west of Lake Superior in the provinces of Alberta, Labrador, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.^[3] Another roughly 27,000 live in Quebec.^[4]

In the United States, the Cree, historically, lived from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation with Ojibwe (Chippewa) people.^[5]

A documented westward migration, over time, has been strongly associated with their roles as traders and hunters in the North American fur trade.^[6]