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 (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.

In Canada, more than 350,000 people are Cree or have Cree ancestry.^[1] The major proportion of Cree in Canada live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories.^[3] About 27,000 live in Quebec.^[4]

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.^[5]

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