Information on
the Plains Cree Indians
Recorded by Members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
1804
The following excerpts from the journals
of Lewis and Clark and their men present a picture of the Plains
Cree people as the Anglo-Americans saw them. The modern reader must
be careful to understand that what these white men saw and recorded
was not necessarily correct from the Indian perspective.
The following passages have been freely adapted
and excerpted from the original texts, and the spelling has been
corrected to make them easier to read. For students wishing to quote
these passages, the Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition,
edited by Gary Moulton and published by the University of Nebraska
Press, is the recommended source. For those who wish more in-depth
information about Lewis and Clark's relations with various Indian
tribes, including background from the Indian perspective, the best
book is James P. Ronda's Lewis and Clark among the Indians.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984. The very best way to
obtain accurate information from the tribal perspective is to contact
tribal councils for individual tribes - in other words, to consult
the people themselves.
The name Cree was an abbreviated form of
Kristinaux, the French version of a Cree name for themselves, Kenistenoag.
They were of the Algonquian language family. The Plains Crees were
buffalo-hunting people whose range was almost entirely in Canada,
north of the Assiniboins and the Sioux. Clark's statement that they
"Speak the Chippewa" refered to the Chippewas, or Ojibways,
who also spoke an Algonquian tongue. The Crees were important trading
partners with the French and later the British in Canada. The adoption
Clark refers to was apparently to insure good treatment of the visitors
during trading. The Crees live in several Canadian provinces today
and also share a reservation in Montana with the Chippewas.
Contact Information:
Chairperson, Chippewa Cree Business Committee
Rocky Boy Route - P.O. Box 544
Box Elder, Montana 59521
*****
Journal Excerpts:
[Clark]
14th of November, Wednesday 1804
Only two Indians visited us today owing to a dance at the village
last night in concluding a ceremony of adoption, and interchange
of property, between the Assiniboins, and the nations of this neighborhood.
Our interpreter [Jusseaume] informs that 70 lodges, one of 3 bands
of Assiniboins & some Christinoes are at the Mandan Village.
The Christinoes are about 300 men speak the Chippewa Language. They
live near Fort Des Prairies.
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