Glossary

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Chipewyan

Cree for ‘pointed skins.’

Chipewyan (Dene) Nation

The Dene were a northern nomadic tribe whose territory stretched from the Churchill river north to the tundra, and from Hudson Bay in the east to Great Slave Lake and part of Alberta in the west. Fur traders who worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company often referred to the Dene as ‘northern Indians.’ The Dene are also known as Chipewyan (meaning ‘pointy skins’); a name given to them by the Cree which referred to the distinctive pointy tails on their long over-shirts. The Dene, which means ‘the people', speak a distinct form of the Algonquian language group.

Cree Nation Although there is evidence that the Cree lived in the parkland regions of the West for sometime, the Plains Cree originated in the East and moved to the Plains through their involvement with the fur trade. While the term “Cree” most likely originated from a French name of unknown origin, their own term Kristineaux is Nehiyawak for “exact people.” There are many branches of the Cree nation spread across the country, typically divided into the Plains Cree, Woodland Cree, Swampy Cree and Moose Cree. Originally they were woodland people and spoke the Algonquian language of Eastern Canada.

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