After acquiring guns through trade, they greatly expanded their territory and drove other tribes further west and north.
In the southern areas they lived in birch-bark wigwams, and further north, where birch was more stunted, they used coverings of pine boughs and caribou hide over conical structures.
The women foraged, snared rabbits and other small mammals, tanned hides, cut firewood, made snowshoes, pitched tents, hauled wood, wove fish nets, and made clothing adorned with quill- and bead-work.
The Woodland Cree were one of the first Aboriginal nations west of Hudson Bay to trade with European fur traders, as early as the 17th century.
They became very closely associated with the fur trade and adapted their clothing and many aspects of their lifestyle and culture to European ways.