The Cree Nation – Spiritual Life
Cree spiritual belief centred on the concept that all living beings possessed a life force or
spirit, called ahtca-k. Connection with, and respect for, the spirit world played a vital role in
their everyday lives. A Great Spirit, named the kice manito or Great Manito by the Cree, was believed
to be the creator of the universe, and the governor of all things. Prayers to the kice manito were
never made directly, but rather were delivered through intermediary spiritual powers known as
atayohkanak, who would guide human beings through their visions. When a spirit power appeared to
someone in a vision, the atayohkanak would become the person’s pawakan, or spirit helper.
Cree spiritual and religious practice was expressed in ceremonial rituals. For the Plains Cree,
the most important religious ceremony was the nipakwesimowin, the Thirst or Sun Dance. It was so
named because participants did not drink during the ceremony. Bands of Cree would gather together
at a chosen location and poles were erected at the centre of the camping area where the people would
participate in four days of sacred dancing, singing, offering, and praying. Some participants also
took part in a painful ritual involving the piercing of flesh with sharp bone or wood which was
attached to a centre pole by a hide thong. The dancers would then dance around the pole until they
tore themselves free, offering their flesh to kici manito in thanks or in exchange for a blessing,
vision, or success in a future endeavour. Even those who did not engage in the self-sacrificial rituals
of the Sun Dance participated in four days of dancing without food or water, demonstrating their
endurance in exchange for blessings from the spirit world.
Another important spiritual ceremony of the Cree was the pihtwowikamik, or Shaking Tent Ceremony.
A special barrel-shaped lodge was built; and at dusk the shaman of the band was bound and placed
inside it. The rest of the ceremony participants would sit in a circle around the lodge; the
campfire was extinguished and drums were beaten to summon the spirits. Spirits would descend,
and the tent would begin to shake and emit strange sounds. Throughout the night, by singing, fasting
and praying, the shaman would converse with the spirits. When the shaman’s last question had been
answered, the fire was relit and the shaman would leave the tent. The lodge was then dismantled and the
tent’s wooden poles were discarded for fear they would bring misfortune.
Sweat Lodge Ceremonies were rituals of purification. A dome shaped lodge was built with hot stones
at its centre. Water would then be poured on the stones, creating steam, while prayers and songs were
recited.
The Cree employed many sacred objects in their rituals: the pipe being one of the most important.
The pipe was smoked at the beginning of important undertakings, and its sanctity dictated that those
who smoked it could only speak the truth, giving the pipe great importance in oral discourse.
Sweetgrass was another very important sacred object; its smoke was thought to purify all that it came
in contact with. The eagle was said to be the favoured bird of the Great Spirit and so eagle feathers
and wings were often held by participants during certain rituals.
Sources:
Darnell, Regna. “Plains Cree.”
Handbook of North American Indians Volume 13, part 1 of 2.
Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 2001.
Malinowski, Sharon and Anna Sheets, eds., “Cree.” The Gale Encyclopedia of North American Tribes,
Volume III. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1998.
Mandelbaum, David G. The Plains Cree: A Historical and Ethnographic Study. Regina: Canadian Plains
Research Centre, 1979.