A Cree canoe on Lac Les Isles

Description

The Western Woods Cree, Bush Cree, Swampy Cree, or Maskegon, as they are variously known, are scattered in numerous bands through the wooded country north of the prairies between Hudson bay and the Peace river drainage. Other members of this large family inhabit the plains in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and the country from Lake Winnipeg to Lakes Mistassini and Nitchequon in the Province of Quebec. They are members of the great Algonquian stock, and are closely related to the Chippewa. Lac les Isles, locally known as Big Island lake, is in west-central Saskatchewan, near the Alberta border. The canoe is a well-made craft of birch-bark.