The Cree-Neskapi-Montagnais
The various Native subgroups who make up the Algonquian-speaking Cree peoples stretch across Canada from what is now Labrador and Quebec through to Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta in Canada. They are also present in Montana, where they share a reservation with the Ojibwe/Chippewa people. French explorers and traders first encountered the Cree along with the Ojibwe around Lake Superior. The French word Cree is a corruption of Ojibwe terms to describe these people. Each subgroup has their own reference for themselves with the languages they speak. The Cree language is divided between Woods, Plains, Swampy, Moose, Northern East, Southern East, Neskapi, Montagnais and Atikemekw, as well as a Sign Language which is still in use. Cree people number almost 200,000 in Canada alone, making them the largest First Nations/Native group in Canada if not North America. Running east to west, they are: Neskapi and Montagnais, often collectively referred to as ...