are sprung our Crees. Mr. Heckewelder, a missionary who resided long
amongst these people and from whose paper (published in the Transactions
of the American Philosophical Society) the above classification is taken,
states that the Lenape have a tradition amongst them of their ancestors
having come from the westward and taken possession of the whole country
from the Missouri to the Atlantic, after driving away or destroying the
original inhabitants of the land whom they termed Alligewi. In this
migration and contest, which endured for a series of years, the Mengwe,
or Iroquois, kept pace with them, moving in a parallel but more northerly
line, and finally settling on the banks of the St. Lawrence and the great
lakes from whence it flows. The Lenape, being more numerous, peopled not
only the greater part of the country at present occupied by the United
States, but also sent detachments to the northward as far as the banks of
the River Mississippi and the shores of Hudson's Bay. The principal of
their northern tribes are now known under the names of Saulteurs or
Chippeways, and Crees; the former inhabiting the country betwixt Lakes
Winnipeg and Superior, the latter frequenting the shores of Hudson's Bay
from Moose to Churchill, and the country from thence as far to the
westward as the plains which lie betwixt the forks of the Saskatchewan.
The Crees, formerly known by the French Canadian traders under the
appellation of Knisteneaux, generally designate themselves as
Eithinyoowuc (men) or, when they wish to discriminate themselves from the
other Indian nations, as Nathehwywithinyoowuc (Southern-men).*
(*Footnote. Much confusion has arisen from the great variety of names
applied without discrimination to the various tribes of Saulteurs and
Crees. Heckewelder considers the Crees of Moose Factory to be a branch of
that tribe of the Lenape which is named Minsi, or Wolf Tribe. He has been
led to form this opinion from the similarity of the name given to these
people by Monsieur Jeremie, namely, Monsonies; but the truth is that
their real name is Mongsoaeythinyoowuc, or Moose-deer Indians; hence the
name of the factory and river on which it is built. The name Knisteneaux,
Kristeneaux, or Killisteneaux, was anciently applied to a tribe of Crees,
now termed Maskegons, who inhabit the river Winnipeg. This small tribe
still retains the peculiarities of customs and dress for which it was
remarkable many years ago, as mentioned by
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