Adaptive+Strategies

=Adaptive Strategies= Cree Indians were mostly hunters and gatherers ("Native Net"). They lived a nomadic lifestyle since different seasons meant different food sources that required mobility ("Access Genealogy"). Along with hunters and gatherers in the forest, there were also hunters on horseback in the prairies known as the Plains Cree. Once these Indians started to be influenced by the Euro-American society, they became the middlemen as well as the hunters for the North American fur trade. Not all of the Cree Indians became Plains Cree. There was still the Woodland Cree who remained in the forest areas. They also contributed to the fur trade by hunting beavers and other small animals for their fur. (Bennet 144-153) **Resources** In the areas near the lakes and forests, the Cree Indians participated in a small amount of cultivation. Women did most of the work such as harvesting the crop, carrying it back, and drying it ("Native Net"). They had small-scale cultivation for berries which involved burning the shrubs in order to grow more. Wild rice was abundant around the Great Lakes and became a big part of their diet. For protein, they usually ate moose, fish, and deer, which were common in there territory ("Native Net").

Birch bark was a necessary item for the Cree. They were able to use this material to make sturdy canoes, houses, cooking pots, utensils, and even paper. ("Native Net").

**Environmental Changes** The Cree Indians were able to modify their nearby ecosystems as well as what and how they harvested. They realized that they constantly need to adapt due to environmental alteration, such as, "infilling of bays, merging of islands, and a shift in vegetation and wildlife." Different practices they utilized were clearing trees, burning berry patches and the formation of mud dykes. The Cree's flexibility and mobility helped them face the different environmental changes. (Sayles, and Mulrennan)

Most of their adapting practices were for food. They built fish weirs, which were rocks placed in a way that made a bowl shape. This then became a pool for fish to get trapped in. Once they are in the pool, they can be caught by hand or spear. They also constructed mud dykes. These are made from mud, rocks and logs. Its purpose is to maintain areas that are attractive for the geese in order to make hunting easier. After is has snowed and spring is coming, the Cree build these dykes in order to prevent the drainage of the water and keep the area wet and marshy for the geese. This practice is also helpful for wild vegetation. Another tool used for hunting geese is cutting the Tuuhiikaan. Geese are known to fly threw valleys and gaps in rocks. Tuuhiikaan are very large formations that the Cree Indians have cut out to increase the chances of geese flying through. These were used up until the 1990's.(Sayles, and Mulrennan)

The Cree Indians are less likely to be surprised by the environment since they have developed successful strategies over many centuries. (Sayles, and Mulrennan)

**Bison**
Even though some members of the Woodland Cree became Plains Cree, they were still the same group and had the same culture. Many of the Plains Cree were not solely in that group. They would go back and forth between the two. However, the more southern group of Plains Cree, became entirely pastoral. They hunted the bison, which made their lifestyle patterns similar to that of the bison. These big mammals would disperse in the prairies during the Spring and Summer and would then come together in the Fall and Winter. The colder months were meant for mating. The Plains Cree began to follow this pattern in order to effectively hunt the bison.

Once the Cree began hunting the bison for trade as well as for themselves, the herds were decreasing in size dramatically. In the 1870's they had run out of bison from the over-hunting. The "balance of this system had been destroyed" and the Plains Indians were upset. They felt that they needed to trade the fur in order to have support from the European Americans. They were confused of how this had happened. They had never had to worry about conserving because of their population size as well as their domestic life, and therefor did not see this coming. (Bennet 144-153)

After small pox greatly downsized the population of the Cree and then when there was no longer any bison to keep them successful in the fur trade, the whites began to take over. In 1871, the Cree had no choice but to move into reservations. This large group of intelligent and independent Indians have become completely dependent on the Indian Agency of the Canadian Northwest Territories.

Sources
"The Life of Cree Indians." //American Indian Articles//. Webmaster, 2011. Web. 7 Dec 2011. . "Who are the Cree Indians?" //Quezi//. 08 feb 2009. Web. 7 Dec 2011. . "Cree Indians." //Native Net//. 2010. Web. 7 Dec 2011. . Sayles, Jesse, and Monica Mulrennan. "Securing a Future: Cree Hunters’ Resistance and Flexibility to Environmental Changes, Wemindji, James Bay." //Ecology and Society//. The Resilience Alliance, 2010. Web. 7 Dec 2011. . Bennet, John. //Northern Plainsmen: Adaptive Strategy and Agrarian Life//. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1969. 144-153. Web. . "Cree." //Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia//. Wikipedia Foundation Inc., 05 Dec 2011. Web. 7 Dec 2011. .