34 CREES. 



speak dialects of the Algonkin tongue, and whose 

 southern limits are stated by Schoolcraft to be 

 conterminous with the Catawbas, Creeks, Cherokees, 

 ChactaSy and Chichasas. The tract which they 

 occupied in the year 1 600 includes the whole area 

 of the United States east of the Mississippi, north 

 of these nations, excepting the grounds of several 

 tribes of the Iroquois race, north and south.* In 

 1603, when the French settled in Canada, the 

 Algonkins, according to Colden, were " the most 

 warlike and polite nation in all North America." 



The national name of this people is derived, 

 according to the custom of the Americans, from 

 the word " man," which is in different dialects 

 Ethinyu, Ethin-u, Inin-yu, or Inine. f According to 

 Schoolcraft, they 'do not call themselves Unis- 

 chauba J, or " aborigines," but, on the contrary, 

 have a tradition current among the southern 



* The Abenakis, Etchemins, and some kindred tribes located 

 to the south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Hochungarras, 

 or Winnebagoes, and Wyandots, to the north-west, belonged to 

 the Iroquois stock. 



f Dr. Latham traces affinities between the terms for " people," 

 in several languages. The similarity of the terms Link or 

 Inuit, and 'Tinne, or 'Tinge, to some of the above is obvious. 

 Mr. Howes makes Etliin'u = edi'-og. From Ethinu comes ethini- 

 sen, "manly;" "wise," indicating the opinion the Crees have 

 of their own nation. 



J From unisha, "common" or "general," inine, "a man," 

 and aub, a generic particle denoting "light," "virility," or 

 "life." Schoolcraft. 



