Cree
Traditions

Many Aboriginal peoples have what might be better termed as an “ecocentric” concept of the person; in which other people, the land, and the animals are all in transaction with the self and indeed, in some sense, constitute aspects of a relational self. 

Damage to the land, appropriation of land, and spatial restrictions all, then, constitute direct assaults on the person.

Traditional hunting practices are not just means of subsistence, they are sociomoral and spiritual practices aimed at maintaining personal and community health.

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The Walking-Out Ceremony

The Walking-Out Ceremony is an age-old tradition that is still being carried out today by the Crees of Eastern James Bay, in all of the nine communities.  The ceremony is held in the spring and starts right after dawn.

The meaning of this ceremony is that the child touches Mother Earth for the very first time.  The child is introduced to Mother Nature by meeting the sunrise, carrying all her or his implements which symbolize the role she or he will play in later life.

The First Snowshoe Walk is done in the winter.  This is done to symbolize that the child is ready to travel with the adults on his or her own.  The child is usually around the age of five or six.

This would be done when the family would move to a new winter lodge.  The parents or grandparents would prepare the first snowshoes for their child.  When the day came for the move to the new camp, everything is already prepared including the food for the feast.

The parents walk with their child to the new camp.  After everyone has settled in the camp, then they have the feast in honour of the child's First Snowshoe Walk. 

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            First Kill

This tradition has been practiced and is still very much practiced today.  When a boy first makes his first kill, this could be a small bird, ptarmigan or a duck, it is given to the grandmother or elder.  The bird is cooked and shared with other family members.  The beak of the bird is kept and placed in a bowl on top of pemmican or steamed pudding.  A feast is held to honour the young hunter and everyone is invited.  Later on when the boy kills his first goose, everyone hears about it and there is a big feast.

For a girl, it will be a fish.  A little girl goes fishing with parents.  When she catches a fish, the jawbone is kept and this event is celebrated the same way as when the boy makes his first kill of a small bird and it could also be a fish. 

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