The Cree, or nehinaw (néhiyaw, nihithaw), are a North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations.

[1] They live primarily to the north and west of Lake Superior in the provinces of Alberta, Labrador, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.

Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation with Ojibwe (Chippewa) people.

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

[11]As hunter-gatherers, the basic units of organization for Cree peoples were the "lodge", a group of perhaps eight to a dozen people, usually the families of two separate, but related, married couples living together in the same wigwam (domed tent) or tipi (conical tent), and the band, a group of lodges who moved and hunted together.

Other than 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.

[16] 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 the Algonquin.

[17] 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.

[19][20] The two major groups: nehiyaw and Innu, speak a mutually intelligible Cree dialect continuum, which can be divided by many criteria.

"[22] 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.

In the West, mixed bands of Cree, Saulteaux, Métis, and Assiniboine, all partners in the Iron Confederacy, are the norm.

This has led to 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.

[27] 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.

[citation needed] The Naskapi are the Innu First Nations inhabiting a region of northeastern Quebec and Labrador, Canada.

[35] Innu Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam based in Sept-Îles, Quebec, in the Côte-Nord region on the Saint Lawrence River.

Montagnais de Unamen Shipu [fr] are located at La Romaine, Quebec at the mouth of the Olomane River on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

[44] 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 the western shore of Lac Saint-Jean.

[48][49] 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.

[85] Brunswick House's reserves are Mountbatten 76A and Duck Lake 76B located in the Sudbury District near Chapleau, Ontario.

The Attawapiskat 91 reserve is 27,000 hectares (67,000 acres) on both shores of the Ekwan River, 165 kilometres (103 mi) upstream from the mouth on James Bay.

[97] Fox Lake Cree Nation 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.

[110] 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.

[128] The Barren Lands First Nation is located on the north shore of Reindeer Lake close to the Saskatchewan border.

[129] The Bunibonibee Cree Nation is located along the eastern shoreline of Oxford Lake at the headwaters of the Hayes River.

All of the Rocky Cree communities of Keewatin Tribal Council are remote; only connected via air and ice road during winter months.

[138] The Nation has eight communities and controls a large number of reserves; the administrative center is Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan, 80 kilometres (50 mi) northeast of Flin Flon, Manitoba.

[146] The O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation is located in the settlement of South Indian Lake, 130 kilometres (81 mi) northwest of Thompson.

[156] The Lubicon Lake Band is based in the settlement of Little Buffalo, approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Peace River.

[170] Fort Chipewyan, one of the oldest European settlements in Alberta, was established in 1788 by the North West Company as a fur trading post.

[207] The Hudson Bay Cree use a decoction of the leaves of Kalmia angustifolia for diarrhea, but they consider the plant to be poisonous.