Mr. Henry in the interesting
account of his journeys in these countries. They are said to be great
rascals. The great body of the Crees were at that time named Opimmitish
Ininiwuc, or Men of the Woods. It would however be an endless task to
attempt to determine the precise people designated by the early French
writers. Every small band naming itself from its hunting grounds was
described as a different nation. The Chippeways who frequented the Lake
of the Woods were named from a particular act of pillage Pilliers, or
Robbers: and the name Saulteurs, applied to a principal band that
frequented the Sault St. Marie, has been by degrees extended to the whole
tribe. It is frequently pronounced and written Sotoos.)

The original character of the Crees must have been much modified by their
long intercourse with Europeans; hence it is to be understood that we
confine ourselves in the following sketch to their present condition, and
more particularly to the Crees of Cumberland House. The moral character
of a hunter is acted upon by the nature of the land he inhabits, the
abundance or scarcity of food, and we may add, in the present case, his
means of access to spiritous liquors. In a country so various in these
respects as that inhabited by the Crees the causes alluded to must
operate strongly in producing a considerable difference of character
amongst the various hordes. It may be proper to bear in mind also that we
are about to draw the character of a people whose only rule of conduct is
public opinion and to try them by a morality founded on divine
revelation, the only standard that can be referred to by those who have
been educated in a land to which the blessings of the Gospel have
extended.

Bearing these considerations in mind then we may state the Crees to be a
vain, fickle, improvident, and indolent race, and not very strict in
their adherence to truth, being great boasters; but on the other hand
they strictly regard the rights of property,* are susceptible of the
kinder affections, capable of friendship, very hospitable, tolerably kind
to their women, and withal inclined to peace.

(*Footnote. This is perhaps true of the Cumberland House Crees alone:
many of the other tribes of Crees are stated by the traders to be
thieves.)

Much of the faulty part of their character no doubt originates in their
mode of life; accustomed as a hunter to depend greatly on chance for his
subsistence the Cree takes little thought of to