BULL. 30] 



CREE 



361 



bones of the moose. The fibrous roots ot 

 the white pine were used as twine for sew- 

 ing their bark canoes, and a kind of thread 

 from a weed for making nets. Spoons 

 and pans were fashioned from the horns 

 of the moose ( Harden) . The}' sometimes 

 made fishhooks by inserting a piece of 

 bone obUquely into a stick and sharpen- 

 ing the point. Their hues were either 

 thongs fastened together or braided wil- 

 low bark. Their skin tipis, like those of 

 the N. Athapascans, were raised on jioles 

 set up in conical form, but were usually 

 more commodious. They occasionally 

 erect a larger structure of lattice work, 

 covered with birch bark, in which 40 

 men or more can assemble for council, 

 feasting, or religious rites. 



The dead were usually buried in shal- 

 low graves, the body being covered with a 

 pile of stones and earth to protect it from 

 beasts of prey. The grave was lined with 

 branches, some of the articles belonging 

 to the deceased being placed in it, and in 

 some sections a sort of canopy was erected 

 over it. Where the deceased had distin- 

 guished himself in war his body was laid, 

 according to Mackenzie, on a kind of scaf- 

 folding; but at a later date Hayden says 

 they did not practise tree or scaffold burial. 

 Tattooing was almost universal among the 

 Cree before it was al)andoned through the 

 influence of the whites. The women were 

 content with having a line or two drawn 

 from the corners of the mouth toward the 

 angles of the lower jaw; but some of the 

 men covered theirMwdies with lines and 

 figures. The Cree of the Woods are ex- 

 pert canoemen and the women lighten 

 considerably their labors by the use of the 

 canoe, especially where lakes and rivers 

 abound. A double-head drum and a rattle 

 are used in all religious ceremonies except 

 those which take place in the sweat house. 

 Their religious beliefs are generally sim- 

 ilar to those of the Chippewa. 



The gentile form of social organization 

 appears to be wanting. On account of 

 the uncertain application of the divisional 

 names given by the Jesuit missionaries 

 and other early writers it is impossible 

 to identify them with those more mod- 

 ernly recognized. Richardson says: "It 

 would, however, be an endless task to 

 attempt to determine the precise people 

 designated by the early French writers. 

 Every small band, naming itself from its 

 hunting grounds, was descril)ed as a dif- 

 ferent nation." The first notice of the 

 Cree divisions is given in the Jesuit Rela- 

 tion of 1658, which states that they are 

 composed of four nations or peoples, as 

 follows: Alimibegouek, Kilistinons of the 

 bay of Ataouabouscatouek, Kilistinons 

 of the Nipisiriniens, and Nisibourounik. 

 At least 3 of these divisions are erro- 

 neously located on the Creuxius map of 



1660, and it is evident from the Relation 

 that at least 3 of them were supposed by 

 the writer to have been situated some- 

 where s. or s. w. of James bay. Nothing 

 additional is heard of them in the su))se- 

 quent notices of the tribe, which is other- 

 wise divided into the Paskwawininiwug 

 and Sakawininiwug (people of the plains 

 and of the woods), the former sulidi- 

 vided into Sipiwininiwug and ^Nlamiki- 

 niniwug (river and lowland ])eoj)le), the 

 latter into Sakittawawininiwug and Aya- 

 baskawininiwug (those of Cross lake and 

 those of Athabasca). In 1856 the Cree 

 were divided, according to Hayden, into 

 the following bands, all or nearly all tak- 

 ing their names from their chiefs: Apis- 

 tekaihe, Cokuh, Kiaskusis, Mataitaikeok, 

 Muskwoikakenut, jMuskwoikauepawit, 

 Peisiekan, Piskakauakis, Shemaukau, 

 and Wikyuwamkamusenaikata, besides 

 several smaller bands and a considerable 

 number around Cross lake, in the present 

 Athabasca, who were not attachtd to any 

 hand. So far as now known the ethnic 

 divisions, aside from the Cree proper, are 

 the Maskegon and the Monsoni. Al- 

 though these are treated as distinct tribes, 

 they form, beyond doul)t, integral parts 

 of the Cree. It was to the Maskegon, 

 according to Richardson, that the name 

 Kilistenaux, in its many forms, was 

 anciently applied, a conclusion with which 

 Henry apparently agrees. 



In 1776, before smallpox had greatly 

 reduced them, the population of the Cree 

 proper was estimated at about 15,000. 

 Most of the estimates during the last cen- 

 tury give them from 2,500 to 3,000. 

 There are now al)out 10,000 in Manitoba 

 (7,000 under agencies) and about 5,000 

 roving in Northwest Territory; total, 

 15,000. (j. M. c. T. ) 



Ana.— Petitot, Kutchin MS. voeab., B. A. E., 1869 

 ('foes': Kutchin name). Annah. — Mackenzie, 

 Voy., 291, 1S02 ('foes': Chipewyan name). Ayic- 

 iyiniwok. — Petitot in Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc, 649, 

 1883 (name used by themselves). Castanoe. — 

 Stanwix conf. (1759) in Rupp, West. Penn., 

 app., 140, 1846. Chahis. — Maximilian, Trav., 

 II, 234, 1841 (Hidatsa name). Christaneaux. — 

 Buchanan, N. Am. Inds., 156, 1824. Christenaux. — 

 Writer of 1719 in Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., v, 424, 1885. 

 Christeneaux.— Hutchins (1764) quoted bv School- 

 craft, Ind. Tribes, iii, 556, 1853. Chris'-te-no 



Lewis and Clark, Trav.. 55, 1806. Christenois. — 

 Ibid., 30- Christianaux. — La Harpe (1700). in 

 French, Hist. Coll. La., IlI, 27, 1851. Christian- 

 eaux. — Gale, Upper Miss., map, 1867. Chris- 

 tianux.— Hutchins (1770) quoted by Richardson, 

 Arct. Exped., ll, 37, 1851. Christinaux,— Dobbs, 

 Hudson Bay, '20, 1744. Christineaux. — French 

 writer (1716) in Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., v, 422, 

 1885. Christinos. — Proces verl^al ( 1671 ) in Margry, 

 Dec, I, 97, 1875. Christinou.— Hervas {ca. 1785) 

 quoted by Vater, Mith., pt. 3, sec. 3, 348, 1816. 

 Ghritenoes. — Fisher, Interesting Acct., 190, 1812. 

 Cithinistinee,— Writer of 1786 in Mass. Hist. Soc. 

 Coll., 1st s., 111,24, 1794. Clintinos. —Ramsey in 

 Ind. Alf. Rep., 72, 1850 (misprint). Clistenos.— 

 Raflnesque, introd. to Marshall, Ky., I, 32, 18'24. 

 Clistinos.— La Hontan, New Voy., I, '231, 1703. 

 Cnistineaux. — Neill, Minn., Ill, 1858. Crees. — 

 Harmon, Jour., 313, map, 18'20. Cries. — Smet, 



