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126-698: The Cree are a Native American ethnic group. Cree may also refer to: Cree The Cree or nehinaw ( Cree : néhinaw , néhiyaw , nihithaw , etc.; French: Cri ) are a North American Indigenous people . They live primarily in Canada , where they form one of the country's largest First Nations . More than 350,000 Canadians are Cree or have Cree ancestry. The major proportion of Cree in Canada live north and west of Lake Superior , in Ontario , Manitoba , Saskatchewan , Alberta , and

252-461: A okimahkan . loosely translated as "war chief". This office was different from that of the "peace chief", a leader who had a role more like that of diplomat. In the run-up to the 1885 North-West Rebellion , Big Bear was the leader of his band, but once the fighting started Wandering Spirit became war leader. There have been several attempts to create a national political organization that would represent all Cree peoples, at least as far back as

378-901: A 1994 gathering at the Opaskwayak Cree First Nation reserve. The name "Cree" is derived from the Algonkian -language exonym Kirištino˙ , which the Ojibwa used for tribes around Hudson Bay . The French colonists and explorers, who spelled the term Kilistinon , Kiristinon , Knisteneaux , Cristenaux , and Cristinaux , used the term for numerous tribes which they encountered north of Lake Superior, in Manitoba, and west of there. The French used these terms to refer to various groups of peoples in Canada, some of which are now better distinguished as Severn Anishinaabe (Ojibwa), who speak dialects different from

504-593: A Métis as "a person who self-identifies as Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation Ancestry and who is accepted by the Métis Nation". At one time the Cree lived in northern Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. Today, American Cree are enrolled in the federally recognized Chippewa Cree tribe, located on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation , and in minority as "Landless Cree" on

630-519: A ceremony was held to thank the bear for "giving" up its life to them. One study of the Ojibwe women who married French fur traders maintained that the majority of the brides were "exceptional" women with "unusual ambitions, influenced by dreams and visions—like the women who become hunters, traders, healers and warriors in Ruth Landes 's account of Ojibwe women". Out of these relationships emerged

756-563: A fierce rivalry grow between France and Great Britain as each European power struggled to expand their fur-trading territories. The two imperial powers and their native allies competed in conflicts that culminated in the French and Indian War , a part of the Seven Years' War in Europe. The 1659–1660 voyage of French traders Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers into

882-477: A gap between demand and supply and to a higher equilibrium in terms of supply. Data from the trading posts show that the supply of beavers from the Aboriginals was price-elastic and therefore traders responded with increased harvests as prices rose. The harvests were further increased due to the fact that no tribe had an absolute monopoly near any trade and most of them were competing against each other to derive

1008-543: A growing trade in the French and later British territories in the 17th century. The transition from a seasonal coastal trade into a permanent interior fur trade was formally marked with the foundation of Quebec on the Saint Lawrence River in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain , officially establishing the settlement of New France . This settlement marked the beginning of the westward movement of French traders from

1134-453: A hunt should occur, particularly prohibitions against needless killing of deer. There are specific taboos against taking the skins of unhealthy deer. But the arrival of the lucrative, European deerskin trade prompted some hunters to abandon tradition and act past the point of restraint they had operated under before. The hunting economy collapsed because of the scarcity of deer as they were over-hunted and lost their lands to white settlers. As

1260-512: A series of small fortifications, beginning with Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario in 1673. Together with the construction of Le Griffon in 1679, the first full-sized sailing ship on the Great Lakes, the forts opened the upper Great Lakes to French navigation. More native groups learned about European wares and became trading middlemen, most notably the Ottawa . The competitive impact of

1386-663: A significant effect on the social behavior of Native Americans. Under the influence of rum, the younger generation did not obey the elders of the tribe and became involved with more skirmishes with other tribes and white settlers. Rum also disrupted the amount of time the younger generation of males spent on labor. Alcohol was one of the goods provided on credit, and led to a debt trap for many Native Americans. Native Americans did not know how to distill alcohol and thus were driven to trade for it. Native Americans had become dependent on manufactured goods such as guns and domesticated animals, and lost much of their traditional practices. With

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1512-412: A simplification of identity, and it has become "fashionable" for bands in many parts of Saskatchewan to identify as "Plains Cree" at the expense of a mixed Cree-Salteaux history. There is also a tendency for bands to recategorize themselves as "Plains Cree" instead of Woods Cree or Swampy Cree. Neal McLeod argues this is partly due to the dominant culture's fascination with Plains Indian culture as well as

1638-626: A tribal council of seven Swampy Cree First Nations across northern Manitoba and is based in The Pas . The Chemawawin Cree Nation (also Rocky Cree) are based on their reserve Chemawawin 2, adjacent to Easterville, Manitoba , 200 kilometres (120 mi) southeast of The Pas. Mathias Colomb First Nation (also Rocky Cree) is located in the community of Pukatawagan on the Pukatawagan 198 reserve. Misipawistik Cree Nation (also Rocky Cree)

1764-401: A very slow return. The first revenues from fur sales in Europe did not arrive until four or more years after the initial investment. These economic factors concentrated the fur trade in the hands of a few large Montreal merchants who had available capital. This trend expanded in the 18th century and reached its zenith with the great fur-trading companies of the 19th century. Competition between

1890-666: A woman from one of these kinship networks would make a fur trader into a member of these networks, thereby ensuring that Indians belonging to whatever clan the trader had married into were more likely to deal only with him. Furthermore, the fur traders discovered that the Indians were more likely to share food, especially during the hard months of winter, to those fur traders who were regarded as part of their communities. One fur trader who married an 18-year old Ojibwe girl describes in his diary his "secret satisfaction at being compelled to marry for my safety". The converse of such marriages

2016-1061: Is a combination of a Cree reserved land (TC) and a Cree village municipality (VC), both with the same name. Moose Cree ( Cree : Mōsonī or Ililiw ), also known as Moosonee are located in Northeastern Ontario . Constance Lake First Nation is the only Cree member of Matawa First Nations . They are located on their reserves, Constance Lake 92 and English River 66 , in the Cochrane District , Ontario. Mushkegowuk Council , based in Moose Factory, Ontario , represents chiefs from seven First Nations across Ontario. Moose Cree members are: Chapleau Cree First Nation , Kashechewan First Nation , Missanabie Cree First Nation , Moose Cree First Nation , and Taykwa Tagamou Nation . The Chapleau Cree First Nation and their two reserves, Chapleau Cree Fox Lake and Chapleau 75 , are located outside of Chapleau, Ontario in

2142-492: Is a group of people claiming descent from the same common ancestor; each clan would have a representative and a vote in all important councils held by the band (compare: Anishinaabe clan system ). Each band remained independent of each other. However, Cree-speaking bands tended to work together and with their neighbours against outside enemies. Those Cree who moved onto the Great Plains and adopted bison hunting , called

2268-503: Is a lack of critical discussion on other factors such as beaver population dynamics, the number of animals harvested, nature of property rights, prices, role of the English and the French in the matter. The primary effect of increased French competition was that the English raised the prices they paid to the Aboriginals to harvest fur. The result of this was greater incentive for Aboriginals to increase harvests. Increased price will lead to

2394-565: Is acknowledged by academics that all bands are ultimately of mixed heritage and multilingualism and multiculturalism was the norm. In the West, mixed bands of Cree, Saulteaux, Métis, and Assiniboine, all partners in the Iron Confederacy , are the norm. However, in recent years, as indigenous languages have declined across western Canada where there were once three languages spoken on a given reserve, there may now only be one. This has led to

2520-493: Is also a major difference in grammatical vocabulary (particles) between the groups. Within both groups, another set of variations has arisen around the pronunciation of the Proto-Algonquian phoneme *l , which can be realized as /l/, /r/, /y/, /n/, or /ð/ (th) by different groups. Yet in other dialects, the distinction between /eː/ (ē) and /iː/ (ī) has been lost, merging to the latter. In more western dialects,

2646-541: Is an enclave of Schefferville. The other, Lac-John , is 2 km (1.2 mi) outside the town. Première Nation des Innus de Nutashkuan is based on their reserve of Natashquan 1 or Nutashkuan. The reserve is located on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence at the mouth of the Natashquan River . Montagnais de Pakua Shipi  [ fr ] located in the community of Pakuashipi , Quebec, on

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2772-669: Is based in Gillam , 248 kilometres (154 mi) northeast of Thompson via Provincial Road 280 (PR 280) , and has several reserves along the Nelson River . Shamattawa First Nation is located on their reserve, Shamattawa 1, on the banks of the Gods River where the Echoing River joins. The community is very remote; only connected via air or via winter ice roads to other First Nation communities. The Tataskweyak Cree Nation

2898-469: Is based on the reserve of York Landing, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Split Lake via ferry. York Factory was a settlement and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) trading post, established in 1684, on the shore of Hudson Bay, at the mouth of the Hayes River . In 1956, the trading post was closed and the community was moved inland to the current site. Swampy Cree Tribal Council is, as the name suggests,

3024-580: Is composed of three Atikamekw First Nations. The council is based in La Tuque, Quebec . The Atikamekw are inhabitants of the area they refer to as Nitaskinan ("Our Land"), in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley. The First Nations: Eeyou Istchee is a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) of Nord-du-Québec represented by the Grand Council of the Crees . On 24 July 2012,

3150-600: Is in the Missanabie , Ontario area. The Moose Cree First Nation is based in Moose Factory in the Cochrane District. Moose Factory was founded in 1672–1673 by Charles Bayly , the first overseas governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, and was the company's second post. It was the first English settlement in what is now Ontario. The Nation has two reserves: Factory Island 1 on Moose Factory Island , an island in

3276-417: Is likely that the women were in fact acting with the approval of their menfolk. Henry claims that he had left at once out of the fear of violence from jealous Ojibwe men, but it seemed more likely that he was afraid that his French-Canadian voyageurs might enjoy themselves too much with the Ojibwe women at this one village and would not want to travel further west. American historian Bruce White describes

3402-778: Is located at Fort Albany, Ontario, on the southern shore of the Albany River at James Bay. The reserve, Fort Albany 67, is shared with the Kashechewan First Nation. The Attawapiskat First Nation is located at mouth of the Attawapiskat River on James Bay. The community is on the Attawapiskat 91A reserve. The Attawapiskat 91 reserve is 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) on both shores of the Ekwan River , 165 kilometres (103 mi) upstream from

3528-527: Is located in the Naskapi village of Kawawachikamach, 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Schefferville , Quebec. The village is in the reserve of the same name . The Mushuau Innu First Nation , located in the community of Natuashish , Newfoundland and Labrador, is located in the Natuashish 2 reserve on the coast of Labrador . Innus of Ekuanitshit live on their reserve of Mingan, Quebec , at

3654-596: Is located in the community of Split Lake, Manitoba within the Split Lake 171 reserve, 144 kilometres (89 mi) northeast of Thompson on PR 280, on the lake of the same name on the Nelson River system. War Lake First Nation possess several reserves but are located on the Mooseocoot reserve in the community of Ilford, Manitoba , 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of York Landing. York Factory First Nation

3780-491: Is located near Grand Rapids, Manitoba , 400 kilometres (250 mi) north of Winnipeg at the mouth of the Saskatchewan River as it runs into Lake Winnipeg. Mosakahiken Cree Nation (also Rocky Cree) is located around the community of Moose Lake about 63 kilometres (39 mi) southeast of The Pas on their main reserve, Moose Lake 31A. Opaskwayak Cree Nation (also Rocky Cree) has several reserves but most of

3906-484: Is located on the north shore of Reindeer Lake close to the Saskatchewan border. It has one reserve, Brochet 197, 256 kilometres (159 mi) northwest of Thompson, adjoining the village of Brochet . The Bunibonibee Cree Nation is located along the eastern shoreline of Oxford Lake at the headwaters of the Hayes River . The Nation controls several reserves with the main reserve being Oxford House 24 adjacent to

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4032-471: Is not so much a language, as a chain of dialects, where speakers from one community can very easily understand their neighbours, but a Plains Cree speaker from Alberta would find a Quebec Cree speaker difficult to speak to without practice." One major division between the groups is that the Eastern group palatalizes the sound /k/ to either /ts/ (c) or to /tʃ/ (č) when it precedes front vowels . There

4158-593: Is now southern Ontario being bordered on three sides by Lake Ontario , Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay , and it was through Wendake that the Ojibwe and Cree who lived further north traded with the French. In 1649, the Iroquois made a series of raids into Wendake that were intended to destroy the Wendat as a people with thousands of Wendat taken to be adopted by Iroquois families with the rest being killed. The war against

4284-660: Is owned by twelve First Nations of which three are Swampy Cree. Cumberland House Cree Nation is based in Cumberland House, Saskatchewan on the Cumberland House Cree Nation 20 reserve, 97 kilometres (60 mi) southwest of Flin Flon , Manitoba. Cumberland House , founded in 1774 by Samuel Hearne , was the site of the HBC's first inland fur-trading post. The Red Earth First Nation is located in

4410-529: Is safety in numbers, all families would want to be part of some band, and banishment was considered a very serious punishment. Bands would usually have strong ties to their neighbours through intermarriage and would assemble together at different parts of the year to hunt and socialize together. Besides these regional gatherings, there was no higher-level formal structure, and decisions of war and peace were made by consensus with allied bands meeting together in council. People could be identified by their clan , which

4536-558: The Métis people whose culture was a fusion of French and Indian elements. Indian men were the trappers who killed the animals for their furs, but normally it was the women who were in charge of the furs that their menfolk had collected, making women into important players in the fur trade. Indian women normally harvested the rice and made the maple sugar that were such important parts of the traders' diets, for which they were usually paid with alcohol. Henry mentions how at one Ojibwe village,

4662-604: The Central Plains . While some historians dispute the claims that the competition was predominantly responsible for over-exploitation of stocks, others have used empirical analysis to emphasize the changing economic incentives for Indigenous hunters and role of the Europeans in the matter. Calvin Martin holds that there was a breakdown of the relationship between man and animal among some Indigenous hunters who, adapting to

4788-736: The Compagnie des Cent-Associés went bankrupt, New France was taken over by the French Crown. King Louis XIV wanted his new Crown colony to turn a profit and dispatched the Carignan-Salières Regiment to defend it. In 1666, the Carignan-Salières Regiment made a devastating raid upon Kanienkeh, which led the Five Nations to sue for peace in 1667. The era from roughly 1660 through 1763 saw

4914-480: The Company of Habitants in the 1640s and 1650s, permitting a small group of investors within Canada an initial hold on the monopoly but then quickly pulling back and limiting trading and investment within the colony. While the monopolies dominated the trade, their charters also required payment of annual returns to the national government, military expenditures, and expectations that they would encourage settlement for

5040-466: The Dakota , who were the enemies of the Ojibwe at the time. Likewise, the fur trader Alexander Henry in visiting an Ojibwe village in what is now Manitoba in 1775 described the "facility with which the women abandoned themselves to my Canadiens " to such an extent that he believed it would cause violence as the Ojibwe men would become jealous, causing him to order his party to leave at once, though it

5166-895: The Fort Peck Indian Reservation and as "Landless Cree" and "Rocky Boy Cree" on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation , all in Montana . The Chippewa Cree share the reservation with the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians , who form the "Chippewa" ( Ojibwa ) half of the Chippewa Cree tribe. On the other Reservations, the Cree minority share the Reservation with the Assiniboine , Gros Ventre and Sioux tribes. Traditionally,

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5292-727: The Grand Banks of the North Atlantic in the 16th century. The new preservation technique of drying fish allowed the mainly Basque fishermen to fish near the Newfoundland coast and transport fish back to Europe for sale. The fishermen sought suitable harbors with ample lumber to dry large quantities of cod. This generated their earliest contact with local Indigenous peoples, with whom the fisherman began simple trading. The fishermen traded metal items for beaver robes made of sewn-together, native-tanned beaver pelts. They used

5418-887: The Moose River , about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from its mouth at James Bay; and Moose Factory 68 , a tract of land about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) upstream on the Moose River. The Taykwa Tagamou Nation has two reserves, New Post 69, and their main reserve, New Post 69A outside Cochrane, Ontario along the Abitibi River . Wabun Tribal Council is a regional chief's council based in Timmins, Ontario representing Ojibway and Cree First Nations in northern Ontario. Moose Cree members are: Brunswick House First Nation and Matachewan First Nation . Brunswick House's reserves are Mountbatten 76A and Duck Lake 76B located in

5544-567: The Northwest Territories to Labrador . It is the most widely spoken aboriginal language in Canada. The only region where Cree has official status is in the Northwest Territories, together with eight other aboriginal languages, French and English. The two major groups: Nehiyaw and Innu, speak a mutually intelligible Cree dialect continuum , which can be divided by many criteria. In a dialect continuum, "It

5670-833: The Northwest Territories . About 27,000 live in Quebec . In the United States, Cree people historically lived from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana , where they share the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation with Ojibwe (Chippewa) people. The documented westward migration over time has been strongly associated with their roles as traders and hunters in the North American fur trade . The Cree are generally divided into eight groups based on dialect and region. These divisions do not necessarily represent ethnic sub-divisions within

5796-743: The Sudbury District . The Kashechewan First Nation community is located on the northern shore of the Albany River on James Bay. The Hudson's Bay Company established a post, Fort Albany , at this location between 1675 and 1679. Kashechewan First Nation is one of two communities that were established from Old Fort Albany, the other being Fort Albany First Nation . The two Nations share the Fort Albany 67 reserve. The Missanabie Cree First Nation signed Treaty 9 in 1906 but did not receive any reserved lands until 2018. The Missanabie reserve

5922-558: The pays d'en haut . Champlain supported the northern groups in their preexisting military struggle with the Iroquois Confederacy to the south. He secured the Ottawa River route to Georgian Bay , greatly expanding the trade. Champlain also sent young French men to live and work among the natives, most notably Étienne Brûlé , to learn the land, language, and customs, as well as to promote trade. Champlain reformed

6048-433: The "nations of the north" which was attended by Ojibwe, Dakota, and Assiniboine leaders, where it was agreed that the daughters and sons of the various chiefs would marry each other to promote peace and ensure the flow of French goods into the region. The French fur trader Claude-Charles Le Roy writes that the Dakota had decided to make peace with their traditional enemies, the Ojibwe, in order to obtain French goods that

6174-427: The 1620s, the Iroquois had become dependent upon iron implements, which they obtained by trading fur with the Dutch at Fort Nassau (modern Albany, New York ). Between 1624 and 1628, the Iroquois drove out their neighbors, the Mahican, to allow themselves to be the one people in the Hudson river valley able to trade with the Dutch. By 1640, the Five Nations had exhausted the supply of beavers in Kanienkeh ("the land of

6300-427: The 19th century, by which time the entire operation was fueled by seasoned trails, the knowledge and experiences of numerous frontiersmen and the system of elaborate trade networks. The trade soon became one of the main economic drivers in North America, attracting competition amongst European nations, whom maintained trade interests in the Americas. The United States sought to remove the substantial British control over

6426-416: The Algonquin. Depending on the community, the Cree may call themselves by the following names: the nēhiyawak, nīhithaw, nēhilaw , and nēhinaw ; or ininiw, ililiw, iynu (innu) , or iyyu . These names are derived from the historical autonym nēhiraw (of uncertain meaning) or from the historical autonym iriniw (meaning "person"). Cree using the latter autonym tend to be those living in

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6552-403: The English and the French was disastrous on the beaver population. The status of beavers changed dramatically as it went from being a source of food and clothing for Indigenous peoples to a vital good for exchange with the Europeans. The French were constantly in search of cheaper fur and trying to cut off Indigenous middleman which led them to explore the interior all the way to Lake Winnipeg and

6678-412: The First Nations in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and along the Saint Lawrence River . He concentrated on trading for furs used as trimming and adornment. He overlooked the fur that would become the driving force of the fur trade in the north, the beaver pelt, which would become fashionable in Europe. The earliest European trading for beaver pelts dated to the growing cod fishing industry that spread to

6804-424: The Fisher River 44 and 44A reserves. Marcel Colomb First Nation is located outside of Lynn Lake on the Black Sturgeon reserve on Hughes Lake, 289 kilometres (180 mi) northwest of Thompson via Provincial Road 391 . Norway House Cree Nation is located in Norway House which is located on the Playgreen Lake section of the Nelson River system on the north side of Lake Winnipeg. In 1821, Norway House became

6930-424: The Five Nations once and for all, and to teach them to respect the "grandeur" of France. The repeated French raids took their toll with the Mohawk who could field about 300 warriors in the 1670s to able to field only 170 warriors in the summer of 1691. The Iroquois struck back by making raids into New France with the most successful being a raid on Lachine in 1689 that killed 24 Frenchmen while taking 80 captives, but

7056-434: The French took an ambivalent attitude towards the Iroquois push west. On one hand, having the Five Nations at war with other nations prevented those nations from trading with the English at Albany, while on the other hand, the French did not want the Iroquois to become the only middlemen in the fur trade. But as the Iroquois continued to win against the other nations, they prevented French and Algonquin fur traders from entering

7182-416: The Hudson Bay. Their success led to England's chartering of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, a major player in the fur trade for the next two centuries. French exploration and expansion westward continued with men such as La Salle and Jacques Marquette exploring and claiming the Great Lakes as well as the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys. To bolster these territorial claims, the French constructed

7308-412: The Hudson's Bay Company competition. At the same time, the English presence in New England grew stronger, while the French were occupied with trying to combat the coureurs de bois and allied Indians from smuggling furs to the English for often higher prices and higher quality goods than they could offer. In 1675, the Iroquois made peace with the Machian while finally defeating the Susquenhannock . In

7434-423: The Hudson's Bay Company show this trend. The English and French had very different trading hierarchical structures. The Hudson's Bay Company had a technical monopoly of the beaver trade within the drainage basin of Hudson Bay while the Compagnie d'Occident was given a monopoly of the beaver trade farther south. The English organized their trade on strictly hierarchical lines while the French used licenses to lease

7560-447: The Iroquois finally made peace with the French in 1667, one of the terms was the French had to hand over all of the Wendat who had fled to New France. The Iroquois had already clashed with the French in 1609, 1610 and 1615, but the "beaver wars" caused a lengthy struggle with the French who had no intention of allowing the Five Nations to set themselves up as the only middlemen in the fur trade. The French did not fare well at first, with

7686-399: The Iroquois inflicting more casualties then they suffered, French settlements frequently cut off, canoes bringing fur to Montreal intercepted, and sometimes the Iroquois blockaded the Saint Lawrence. New France was a proprietary colony run by the Compagnie des Cent-Associés who went bankrupt in 1663 because of the Iroquois attacks which made the fur trade unprofitable for the French. After

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7812-400: The Iroquois, who had a predatory attitude towards their neighbors even at the best of times, constantly raiding neighboring peoples in "mourning wars" in search of captives who would become Iroquois, were determined to be the only middlemen between the Europeans and the other Indians who lived in the West, and quite consciously set about eliminating any rivals as such as the Huron (Wendat). By

7938-413: The Mississippi River valley, and the Ottawa showed signs of finally making an alliance with the Five Nations, in 1684, the French declared war on the Iroquois. Otreouti in an appeal for help correctly noted: "The French will have all the beavers and are angry with us for bringing you any". Starting in 1684, the French repeatedly raided Kanienkeh, burning crops and villages as Louis gave orders to "humble"

8064-441: The Monsoni, (a branch of the Ojibwe ). Both groups had donned war paint in preparation to an attack on the Dakota and another group of Ojibwe. After acquiring firearms from the HBC, the Cree moved as traders into the plains, acting as middlemen with the HBC. The Naskapi are the Innu First Nations inhabiting a region of northeastern Quebec and Labrador , Canada. The Naskapi are traditionally nomadic peoples, in contrast with

8190-431: The Native Americans in debt. Traders would rig the weighing system that determined the value of the deerskins in their favor, cut measurement tools to devalue the deerskin, and would tamper with the manufactured goods to decrease their worth, such as watering down the alcohol they traded. To satisfy the need for deerskins, many males of the tribes abandoned their traditional seasonal roles and became full-time traders. When

8316-413: The North American fur trade during the first decades of its existence . Many Indigenous peoples would soon come to depend on the fur trade as their primary source of income and method of obtaining European-manufactured goods (such as weaponry, housewares, kitchenwares, and other useful products). However, by the mid-19th century, changing fashions in Europe brought about a collapse in fur prices and led to

8442-451: The North American fur trade from the initial period of their colonization of the Americas onward, bringing the financial and material gains of the trade to Europe. European merchants from France , England and the Dutch Republic established trading posts and forts in various regions of eastern North America, primarily to conduct trade transactions with First Nations and local communities. The trade reached its peak of economic prominence in

8568-455: The North West with Montreal . The old system of native middlemen and coureurs de bois traveling to trade fairs in Montreal or illegally to English markets was replaced by an increasingly complex and labor-intensive trade network. Licensed voyageurs , allied with Montreal merchants, used water routes to reach the far-flung corners of the North West with canoe loads of trade goods. These risky ventures required large initial investments and had

8694-581: The Ojibwe were blocking them from receiving. Le Roy writes the Dakota "could obtain French merchandise only through the agency of the Sauteurs [Ojibwe]" so they made "a treaty of peace by which they were mutually bound to give their daughters in marriage on both sides". Indian marriages usually involved a simple ceremony involving the exchange of valuable gifts from the parents of the bride and groom and, unlike European marriages, could be dissolved at any time by one partner choosing to walk out. The Indians were organized into kinship and clan networks, and marrying

8820-427: The Plains Cree, were allied with the Assiniboine , the Metis Nation, and the Saulteaux in what was known as the " Iron Confederacy ", which was a major force in the North American fur trade from the 1730s to the 1870s. The Cree and the Assiniboine were important intermediaries in the Indian trading networks on the northern plains. When a band went to war, they would nominate a temporary military commander, called

8946-504: The Quebec government signed an accord with the Cree Nation that resulted in the abolition of the neighbouring municipality of Baie-James and the creation of the new Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government , providing for the residents of surrounding Jamésie TE and Eeyou Istchee to jointly govern the territory formerly governed by the municipality of Baie-James. Eeyou Istchee is a territory of eight enclaves within Jamésie plus one enclave (Whapmagoostui) within Kativik TE. Each enclave

9072-646: The Rocky Cree communities of Keewatin Tribal Council are remote; only connected via air and ice road during winter months. Five of the Swampy Cree Tribal Council First Nations contain Rocky Cree populations: Chemawawin Cree Nation , Mathias Colomb First Nation , Misipawistik Cree Nation , Mosakahiken Cree Nation , Opaskwayak Cree Nation . North American fur trade Europeans began their participation in

9198-737: The Saint Lawrence heightened the fierce competition between the Iroquois and Huron for access to the rich fur-bearing lands of the Canadian Shield . The competition for hunting is believed to have contributed to the earlier destruction of the Saint Lawrence Iroquoians in the valley by 1600, likely by the Iroquois Mohawk tribe, who were located closest to them, were more powerful than the Huron, and had

9324-928: The Sudbury District near Chapleau, Ontario. The Matachewan First Nation is on the Matachewan 72 reserve near Matachewan township in the Timiskaming District . Fort Severn First Nation and their reserve, Fort Severn 89, located on the mouth of the Severn River on Hudson Bay, is the most northern community in Ontario. It is a member of Keewaytinook Okimakanak Council . Mushkegowuk Council , based in Moose Factory, Ontario , represents chiefs from seven First Nations across Ontario. Swampy Cree members are: Fort Albany First Nation and Attawapiskat First Nation . Fort Albany First Nation

9450-404: The Wendat was at least just as much a "mourning war" as a "beaver war" as the Iroquois obsessively raided Wendake for ten years after their great raids of 1649 to take single Wendat back to Kanienkeh, even though they did not possess much in the way of beaver pelts. The Iroquois's population had been devastated by losses because of European diseases like smallpox for they had no immunity, and when

9576-452: The basic unit of organization for Cree peoples was the lodge , a group of perhaps eight or a dozen people, usually the families of two separate but related married couples, who lived together in the same wigwam (domed tent) or tipi (conical tent), and the band , a group of lodges who moved and hunted together. In the case of disagreement, lodges could leave bands and bands could be formed and dissolved with relative ease. However, as there

9702-414: The beaver returns from each trading post, biological evidence on beaver population dynamics and contemporary estimates of beaver population densities. While the view that increased competition between the English and the French led to over-exploitation of beaver stocks by the Aboriginals does not receive uncritical support, most believe that Aboriginals were the primary actors in depleting animal stocks. There

9828-484: The business of the trade, creating the first informal trust in 1613 in response to increasing losses because of competition. The trust was later formalized with a royal charter, leading to a series of trade monopolies during the term of New France. The most notable monopoly was the Company of One Hundred Associates based back in France, with a period of attempted transition towards other share trading companies, such as

9954-570: The community of Oxford House, Manitoba , 160 kilometres (99 mi) southeast of Thompson. God's Lake First Nation is located in the God's Lake Narrows area on the shore of God's Lake . The main reserve is God's Lake 23, 240 kilometres (150 mi) southeast of Thompson. The Manto Sipi Cree Nation also live on God's Lake in the community of God's River on the God's River 86A reserve, about 42 kilometres (26 mi) northeast of God's Lake Narrows. All of

10080-615: The community of Sheshatshiu in Labrador and is located approximately 45 km (28 mi) north of Happy Valley-Goose Bay . Sheshatshiu is located adjacent to the Inuit community of North West River . The Sheshatshiu Nation has one reserve, Sheshatshiu 3. Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation is located on the reserve of Mashteuiatsh in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, 8 km (5.0 mi) north of Roberval, Quebec , on

10206-758: The community of Red Earth, on the banks of the Carrot River , on the Carrot River 29A reserve. Close by is the Red Earth 29 reserve, about 75 kilometres (47 mi) east of Nipawin . Shoal Lake Cree Nation is located in Pakwaw Lake, on the Shoal Lake 28A reserve, 92 kilometres (57 mi) east of Nipawin. The Keewatin Tribal Council, described under Swampy Cree, also represents Rocky Cree First Nations in Manitoba. The Barren Lands First Nation

10332-426: The continual supply of European goods to their communities and discourage fur traders from dealing with other Indian tribes. The fur trade did not involve barter in the way that most people presuppose but was a credit/debit relationship when a fur trader would arrive in a community in the summer or fall, hand out goods to the Indians who would pay him back in the spring with the furs from the animals they had killed over

10458-465: The country north and west of Lake Superior symbolically opened this new era of expansion. Their trading voyage proved extremely lucrative in furs. More importantly, they learned of a frozen sea to the north that provided easy access to the fur-bearing interior. Upon their return, French officials confiscated the furs of these unlicensed coureurs des bois . Radisson and Groseilliers went to Boston and then to London to secure funding and two ships to explore

10584-628: The crashing of several fur companies. Many Indigenous (and European) communities that relied on the fur trade were suddenly plunged into poverty and, consequently, lost much of the political influence they once held. The number of beavers and river otters killed during the fur trade was devastating for the animals' North American populations. The natural ecosystems that came to rely on the beavers for dams , river and water management and other vital needs were also ravaged, leading to ecological destruction , significant environmental change, and even drought in certain areas. Following this degradation, both

10710-535: The dead Iroquois; thus a cycle of violence and warfare escalated. More significantly, new infectious diseases brought by the French decimated Native communities . Combined with warfare, disease led to the near destruction of the Huron by 1650. During the 1640s and 1650s, the Beaver Wars initiated by the Iroquois forced a massive demographic shift as their western neighbors fled the violence. They sought refuge west and north of Lake Michigan . The Five Nations of

10836-529: The deer populations declined and the government pressured tribes to switch to the European settler's way of life, animal husbandry replaced deer hunting both as an income and in the diet. Rum was first introduced in the early 16th century as a trading item and quickly became an inelastic good . While Native Americans for the most part acted conservatively in trading deals, they consumed a surplus of alcohol. Traders used rum to help form partnerships. Rum had

10962-458: The deerskin trade collapsed, Native Americans found themselves dependent on manufactured goods, and could not return to the old ways because of lost knowledge. It was a common practice on the part of the Indian women to offer marriage and sometimes just sex in exchange for fur traders not trading with their rivals. Radisson describes visiting one Ojibwe village in the spring of 1660 where during

11088-481: The distinction between /s/ and /ʃ/ (š) has been lost, both merging to the former. "Cree is a not a typologically harmonic language. Cree has both prefixes and suffixes, both prepositions and postpositions, and both prenominal and postnominal modifiers (e.g. demonstratives can appear in both positions)." Golla counts Cree dialects as eight of 55 North American languages that have more than 1,000 speakers and which are being actively acquired by children. The Cree are

11214-521: The expansion while centralizing the French efforts. As native peoples had the primary role of suppliers in the fur trade, Champlain quickly created alliances with the Algonquin , Montagnais (who were located in the territory around Tadoussac), and most importantly, the Huron to the west. The latter, an Iroquoian -speaking people, served as middlemen between the French on the Saint Lawrence and nations in

11340-642: The first permanent settlement of Tadoussac at the mouth of the Saguenay River on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, up the Saint Lawrence River and into the pays d'en haut (or "upper country") around the Great Lakes . What followed in the first half of the 17th century were strategic moves by both the French and the Indigenous groups to further their own economic and geopolitical ambitions. Champlain led

11466-457: The flint," the Iroquois name for their homeland in what is now upstate New York ), and moreover Kanienkeh lacked the beavers with the thick pelts that the Europeans favored and would pay the best price for, which were to be found further north in what is now northern Canada. The Five Nations launched the "Beaver Wars" to take control of the fur trade from other middlemen who would deal with the Europeans. The Wendat homeland, Wendake, lies in what

11592-419: The form ililiw , coastal East Cree and Naskapi use iyiyiw (variously spelled iiyiyiu , iiyiyuu , and eeyou ), inland East Cree use iyiniw (variously spelled iinuu and eenou ), and Montagnais use ilnu and innu , depending on dialect. The Cree use "Cree", "cri", "Naskapi, or "montagnais" to refer to their people only when speaking French or English. As hunter-gatherers ,

11718-406: The fur trade also brought profound changes to the Indigenous communities living along the Saint Lawrence. European wares, such as iron axe heads, brass kettles, cloth, and firearms were bought with beaver pelts and other furs. The widespread practice of trading furs for rum and whiskey led to problems associated with inebriation and alcohol abuse. The subsequent destruction of beaver populations along

11844-614: The greater degree of written standardization and prestige Plains Cree enjoys over other Cree dialects. The Métis (from the French, Métis – of mixed ancestry) are people of mixed ancestry, such as Cree and French, English, or Scottish heritage. According to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada , the Métis were historically the children of French fur traders and Cree women or, from unions of English or Scottish traders and Cree, Northwestern Ojibwe, or northern Dene women ( Anglo-Métis ). The Métis National Council defines

11970-409: The importance of personal contacts and experience in the fur trade, gave an edge to independent traders over the more bureaucratic monopolies. The newly established English colonies to the south quickly joined the lucrative trade, raiding the Saint Lawrence River valley and capturing and controlling Quebec from 1629 to 1632. While bringing wealth to a few select French traders and the French regime,

12096-493: The larger ethnic group: Due to the many dialects of the Cree language , the people have no modern collective autonym . The Plains Cree and Attikamekw refer to themselves using modern forms of the historical nêhiraw , namely nêhiyaw and nêhirawisiw , respectively. Moose Cree, East Cree, Naskapi, and Montagnais all refer to themselves using modern dialectal forms of the historical iriniw , meaning 'man.' Moose Cree use

12222-547: The largest group of First Nations in Canada, with 220,000 members and 135 registered bands. Together, their reserve lands are the largest of any First Nations group in the country. The largest Cree band and the second largest First Nations Band in Canada after the Six Nations Iroquois is the Lac La Ronge Band in northern Saskatchewan. Given the traditional Cree acceptance of mixed marriages, it

12348-741: The late 1670s and early 1680s, the Five Nations started to raid what is now the Midwest , battling the Miami and the Illinois while alternatively fighting against and attempting to make an alliance with the Ottawa. One Onondaga chief, Otreouti, whom the French called La Grande Gueule ("the big mouth"), announced in a speech in 1684 that the wars against the Illinois and Miami were justified because "They came to hunt beavers on our lands ...". Initially,

12474-481: The maximum benefit from the presence of the English and the French. Additionally, the problem of the commons is also glaringly visible in this matter. Open access to resources leads to no incentive to conserve stocks, and actors which try to conserve lose out compared to the others when it comes to maximizing economic output. Therefore, there appeared to be a lack of concern by tribes of the First Nations about

12600-543: The most to gain by controlling this part of the valley. Iroquois access to firearms through Dutch and later English traders along the Hudson River increased the casualties in the warfare. This greater bloodshed, previously unseen in Iroquoian warfare, increased the practice of " Mourning Wars ". The Iroquois raided neighboring groups to take captives, who were ceremonially adopted as new family members to replace

12726-758: The mouth of the Mingan River of the Saint Lawrence River in the Côte-Nord (north shore) region. Innu Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam based in Sept-Îles, Quebec, in the Côte-Nord region on the Saint Lawrence River. They own two reserves: Maliotenam 27A, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east of Sept-Îles, and Uashat 27, within Sept-Îles. Innu Nation of Matimekush-Lac John is based out of Schefferville, Quebec. One reserve, Matimekosh ,

12852-860: The mouth on James Bay. Independent from a Tribal Council is the Weenusk First Nation located in Peawanuck in the Kenora District. The community was located on their reserve of Winisk 90 on the mouth of the Winisk River on James Bay but the community was destroyed in the 1986 Winisk flood and the community had to be relocated to Peawanuck. Keewatin Tribal Council is a Tribal Council based in Thompson, Manitoba that represents eleven First Nations, of which five are Swampy Cree, across northern Manitoba. Fox Lake Cree Nation

12978-519: The new English Hudson's Bay Company trade was felt as early as 1671, with diminished returns for the French and the role of the native middlemen. This new competition directly stimulated French expansion into the North West to win back native customers. What followed was a continual expansion north and west of Lake Superior. The French used diplomatic negotiations with natives to win back trade and an aggressive military policy to temporarily eliminate

13104-403: The new cattle herds roaming the hunting lands, and a greater emphasis on farming due to the invention of the cotton gin , Native Americans struggled to maintain their place in the economy. An inequality gap had appeared in the tribes, as some hunters were more successful than others. Still, the creditors treated an individual's debt as debt of the whole tribe and used several strategies to keep

13230-1000: The population lives on the Opaskwayak 21E reserve, immediately north of and across the Saskatchewan River from The Pas. The Sapotaweyak Cree Nation is located in the Shoal River 65A reserve adjacent to the community of Pelican Rapids , about 82 kilometres (51 mi) south of The Pas. Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation has several reserves but the main reserve is Swan Lake 65C which contains the settlement of Indian Birch, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) south of The Pas. Not affiliated with any Tribal Council: Fisher River Cree Nation , Marcel Colomb First Nation , and Norway House Cree Nation . Fisher River Cree Nation , located approximately 177 kilometres (110 mi) north of Winnipeg in Koostatak on Lake Winnipeg , control

13356-499: The principal inland fur trading depot for the Hudson's Bay Company. Norway House was also where Treaty 5 was signed. They control more than 80 reserves from less than 2 hectares (4.9 acres) to their largest, Norway House 17, at over 7,600 hectares (19,000 acres). The Nation is one of the most populous in Canada with 8,599 people as of November 2021 . Prince Albert Grand Council is based in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and

13482-542: The river otter and beaver populations in North America would continue to decline, without much noticeable improvement until around the mid-twentieth century. French explorer Jacques Cartier in his three voyages into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the 1530s and 1540s conducted some of the earliest fur trading between European and First Nations peoples associated with 16th century and later explorations in North America. Cartier attempted limited fur trading with

13608-531: The robes to keep warm on the long, cold return voyages across the Atlantic. These castor gras (in French) became prized by European hat makers in the second half of the 16th century, as they converted the pelts to felt . The discovery of the superior felting qualities of beaver fur, along with the rapidly increasing popularity of beaver felt hats in fashion, transformed the incidental trading of fishermen into

13734-409: The settling to a lower level of stable population, further declines were caused by over-harvesting in two of the three English trading posts (Albany and York). The data from the third trading post are also very interesting in that the post did not come under French pressure and was therefore shielded from the kind of over-exploitation of stocks which resulted at the other trading posts. At Fort Churchill,

13860-741: The southern limits of the Cree territory in Montana were the Missouri River and the Milk River . In Manitoba, the Cree were first contacted by Europeans in 1682, at the mouth of the Nelson and Hayes rivers by a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) party traveling about 100 miles (160 km) inland. In the south, in 1732; in what is now northwestern Ontario, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye , met with an assembled group of 200 Cree warriors near present-day Fort Frances , as well as with

13986-440: The sparsely populated New France. The vast wealth in the fur trade created enforcement problems for the monopoly. Unlicensed independent traders, known as coureurs des bois (or "runners of the woods"), began to do business in the late 17th and early 18th century. Over time, many Métis were drawn to the independent trade; they were the descendants of French trappers and native women. The increasing use of currency , as well as

14112-576: The stocks of beaver adjusted to the maximum sustained yield level. The data from Churchill further reinforce the case of over-exploitation of stocks caused by the French-English competition. Indigenous North American beliefs in the affected region incorporate respect for the environment. Traditionally, many tribes in the region believe in a spiritual relationship between the people and the animals they rely on for food, clothing, and medicines, and many tribes have traditional protocols surrounding how

14238-564: The superior resources of the French state proceeded to grind them down until they finally made peace in 1701 . The settlement of native refugees from the Beaver Wars in the western and northern Great Lakes combined with the decline of the Ottawa middlemen to create vast new markets for French traders. Resurgent Iroquoian warfare in the 1680s also stimulated the fur trade as native French allies bought weapons. The new more distant markets and fierce English competition stifled direct trade from

14364-455: The sustainability of the fur trade. The problem of over-exploitation is not helped by the fact that the efforts by the French to remove the middlemen such as the Huron who increasingly resented their influence meant that stocks were put under more pressure. All these factors contributed to an unsustainable trade pattern in furs which depleted beaver stocks very fast. An empirical study done by Ann M. Carlos and Frank D. Lewis shows that apart from

14490-588: The territorial Montagnais, the other segment of Innu. The Naskapi language and culture is quite different from the Montagnais, in which the dialect changes from y to n as in "Iiyuu" versus "Innu". Iyuw Iyimuun is the Innu dialect spoken by the Naskapi. Today, the Naskapi are settled into two communities: Kawawachikamach Quebec and Natuashish , Newfoundland and Labrador. The Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach

14616-444: The territories of Quebec and Labrador. The Cree language (also known in the most broad classification as Cree-Montagnais, Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi, to show the groups included within it) is the name for a group of closely related Algonquian languages , the mother tongue (i.e. language first learned and still understood) of approximately 96,000 people, and the language most often spoken at home of about 65,000 people across Canada, from

14742-658: The use of their posts. This meant that the French incentivized the extension of trade, and French traders did indeed infiltrate much of the Great Lakes region. The French established posts on Lake Winnipeg, Lac des Praires and Lake Nipigon which represented a serious threat to flow of furs to the York Factory . The increasing penetration near English ports meant that the Native Americans had more than one place to sell their goods. The simulation of beaver populations around trading posts are done by taking into account

14868-534: The village of Les Escoumins, Quebec . The community is on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Escoumins River in the Côte-Nord region, 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Tadoussac and 250 km (160 mi) northeast of Québec . Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw , officially named Atikamekw Sipi – Conseil de la Nation Atikamekw, is a tribal council in Quebec, Canada. It

14994-546: The way in which the Ojibwe and the other Indian peoples sought to "use sexual relations as a means of establishing long-term relationships between themselves and people from another society was a rational strategy, one that has been described in many parts of the world". One fur trader who married an Ojibwe woman describes how the Ojibwe would initially shun a fur trader until they could give gauge his honesty and provided he proved himself an honest man, "the chiefs would take together their marriageable girls to his trading house and he

15120-403: The ways of the colonists, hunted to feed global fur markets with little consideration of the possibility of extinction. As competition increased between the English and French in the 16th century, fur also continued to be harvested by Aboriginal tribes, both for their own use and as middleman. All of this combined to cause a severe over-harvesting of beavers. Data from three of the trading posts of

15246-439: The welcoming ceremony: "The women throw themselves backwards on the ground, thinking to give us tokens of friendship and wellcome [welcome]". Radisson was initially confused by this gesture, but as the women started to engage in more overtly sexual behavior, he realized what was being offered. Radisson was informed by the village elders that he could have sex with any unmarried women in the village provided that he did not trade with

15372-578: The western shore of Lac Saint-Jean . Bande des Innus de Pessamit based in Pessamit , Quebec, is located about 58 km (36 mi) southwest of Baie-Comeau along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Betsiamites River . It is across the river directly north of Rimouski, Quebec . Pessamit is 358 km (222 mi) northeast of Quebec City. Innue Essipit are based in their reserve of Essipit , adjacent to

15498-573: The western shore of the mouth of the Saint-Augustin River on the north shore of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in the Côte-Nord region. The community is adjacent to the settlement of Saint-Augustin . Montagnais de Unamen Shipu  [ fr ] are located at La Romaine, Quebec at the mouth of the Olomane River on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. They have one reserve; Romaine 2. Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation located in

15624-421: The winter; in the interim, further exchanges often involved both Indian men and women. Fur traders found that marrying the daughters of chiefs would ensure the co-operation of an entire community. Marriage alliances were also made between Indian tribes. In September 1679, the French diplomat and soldier Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut , called a peace conference at Fond du Lac (modern Duluth, Minnesota ) of all

15750-418: Was given the choice of the lot". If the fur trader married, the Ojibwe would trade with him as he became part of the community, and if he refused to marry, then the Ojibwe would not trade with him as Ojibwe only traded with a man who "took one of their women for his wife". Virtually all Indian communities encouraged fur traders to take an Indian wife in order to build a long-term relationship that would ensure

15876-407: Was that a fur trader was expected to favor whatever clan/kinship network that he had married into with European goods, and a fur trader who did not would ruin his reputation. The Ojibwe, like other tribes, saw all life in this world being based upon reciprocal relationships, with "gifts" of tobacco left behind when harvesting plants to thank nature for providing the plants, while when a bear was killed,

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