Cree Indian Discussion Forum

From: N/A
Date: 11/21/2004
Time: 1:31:12 PM
Remote Name: 69.157.68.53

Comments

Som1 said U wanted some info on the Cree. I just happen to be doing a project on them. Here :)

Home

Cree people’s homes were a big deal in their lives. Home was where they went for protection and shelter from the cold. This means that it had to be made of the strongest materials. Men made huts made of sticks to form a frame. While this was being done women would sew deer hides together to make a cover. This was tied to the frame to make their homes.

What went on inside?

Inside the hut women had small sewing stations and an area to cook. Men spent most of their time outside so they only had a bed. Children had a small area to play. They would play games such as two-faced dice, were played. This game was complicated. 6 dice were made and put in a bowl. Players would then toss them up in the air and look at what the sides meant. If all dice were on the marked side or the blank side, 6 points. 1 marked side, 4 points. Half marked half-blank, 3 points. 2 marked disks 2 points.

Spiritual The Cree’s most important spiritual ritual was the sun dance. In this ritual sacrifices were made to the sun gods. The dance was used for burring chefs or other more important members of a tribe. The sun dance was also used for getting attention. If a random person wanted to do so, they had to speak to a priest representing the sun gods. The lessons cost. They cost the scalp and left hand of an enemy. A relative could offer this for free, or they would cost a high price. Some props were used during the ceremony. One was a buffalo head on the top of a pole. The pole was raised up and the head was faced towards the setting sun. The “buffalo pole” was used in both the sacrificing ritual and the ritual to get attention. The Cree believed that if they didn’t make a sacrifice, the sun would dry up water and berries. The meat supply would die because of heat and lack of water. But no Cree ever actually died during the sun dance. But horrible pain made many human “sacrifices” want to die. What happened was that one brave man went to see the tribe medicine man. There the medicine man took a piece of skin on the chest with a bone. Then he got a skewer like knife and pierced the skin behind his bone. The skewer was attached to leather ropes on the buffalo pole. The man with a skewer in his chest had his hands tied behind his back. Then he had to break the bone and rip open the skin to get the skewer out. This symbolized the renewal of the sun’s powers .

Education The Cree People needed to learn to stay alive. They learned from their mothers and father. From whom they learned from depended on what gender they were. Males would learn hunting, fishing, building, etc. from their Fathers and Grandfathers. Females would learn sewing, cooking, building fires, etc. from their mothers and grandmothers. But in the late 1940s Canada forced the Crees to go to school for a proper education. With that their First language, Algonquin, had to be replaced by either English or French. They were also forced to be Christian they could no longer be part of the “Cree”. They were Cree people, but not religion. After a few years, a compromise was made, the Cree people could still be part of the Cree religion, but they could not learn ancient traditions.

 In The Past

Cree children would learn from their parents. Boys would go out with their Fathers to fish and hunt. They would show their boys how to make their traditional traps out of nets and spears. Fathers would show their sons how to make fishing hooks spears, houses, etc. Women would show their girls how to make a fire using all natural materials.

Hunting

Food was mandatory to stay alive. The early Cree eat mostly fish. they made fishing hooks out of bone. But later they started making spears with bone and hunted buffalo and caribou. They made sure all the animal was used. The fur and hide was used to make clothing, and the meat as food. The earliest method of hunting mammals was to circle the prey, and move in closer, and closer they someone would scare the animal and it would jump into the other side of the circle and then it would be speared. A few more methods are to stand on a hill or cliff with bows and arrows, one or two unlucky people would scare the prey towards the men with bows and arrows, and then they would shoot. But the people who scared the prey took big risks, because they could be shot, wounded, or maybe killed. A more modern way is to make giant nets that are shaped like a funnel. Bait would be placed half way in the trap. Five or six men would stand behind bushes at the wide end while two or three would be standing at the small end. While the prey eats it’s food, the men at the far end jump out and scare the prey. Then it runs to the other side where people are waiting to spear it. As you can see the Cree people have been successful by scaring prey. But they didn’t always use scaring. One way was to dig a deep hole in the ground. The hole’s bottom was filled with upward pointing spears. A net with leaves, or sand (depending on where they lived) would be placed over top, then bait. Every day they would check the trap to see if something was there. But while men were hunting, women would be out gathering berries. So as you can see the Cree were smart. They used logic in everything. Even Hunting.

Bibliography

First Peoples: The Cree of North America Robinson, Deborah