Algonquian

Migrations and shifts in subsistence patterns created a vast expanse of territories occupied by Algonquian speakers. The languages of Blackfoot, Assiniboine, Plains Cree, and Ojibwa are spoken in the Plains region. Swampy Cree, Wood Cree, Ojibwa, James Bay Cree, Odawa, Innu (Montagnais), Innu (Naskapi), Mi'kmaq (Micmac), Wuastukwiuk (Maliseet) are spoken in the Canadian Shield and eastern Sub-Arctic regions.

Canadian Shield Algonquian speakers included the Cree and Innu (Montagnais). Survival on the Canadian Shield required that all band members co-operate and participate in completing everyday tasks. For instance, snowshoes were absolutely necessary during the eight months of winter, and the construction of snowshoes was accomplished through the combined efforts of men and women. Women cut leather into strips, which were then woven onto the wooden snowshoe frame that had been formed by the men. As well, men, women, and children all participated in driving caribou into compounds. This complementary work ethic, based upon economic activity, was instrumental in there being equal status between men and women in a band.

Among Cree and Innu cultures, marriage was arranged by contract. Premarital sex was accepted but marriage was monogamous. Women were autonomous in child rearing.

The Cree believed in an all-powerful Creator and they believed that all living things possessed the power of the Creator. The Cree spoke or sung prayers to this deity and they participated in vision quests. They believed in the existence of a host of spirit intermediaries who granted individuals a vision from the spirit world. These visions would consist of teachings and prophecies for the individual.

The Algonquian speakers of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts included the Mi'kmaq and Wuastukwiuk. Spiritual belief systems were integrated with hunting practices, and rituals were performed to reinforce the relationship between the hunter and the animal-spirit. The Innu held a special ritual feast called Mokoshan at which they ate the bone marrow of caribou. Hunters might also carry charms to help them. Beaks, claws, a weasel's skull, or, as with the eastern Cree, the dried decorated head of the first goose of the year were some of these charms. Before killing a bear the hunter would talk or sing to the animal. This show of respect to the spirit of the bear assured the animal that its death was required only because the hunter and his family needed food. A further demonstration of this respect involved cleaning the skulls of hunted bears and beavers, and then placing them high on a pole or in a tree where dogs could not defile them. The Mi'kmaq also believed in the power of visions and dreams, which were interpreted by a shaman. A dream of sunbeams striking the ground, for example, was thought to be particularly lucky for a hunter.

Algonquian speakers of the Great Lakes region included the Ojibwa and Odawa. An Ojibwa marriage was considered a union when a man chose a partner and he made offerings of meat to her family. He was expected to prove himself worthy as a hunter and provider. If the bride's family accepted the meat, a marriage feast ensued. After a few years of marriage the couple moved from the bride's family home to their own dwelling.

The Ojibway had an elite group of healers known as the Medewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society. This group held elaborate healing ceremonies such as the summer camp. This was a life-giving ceremony with the purpose of passing on belief systems, cure illnesses, and prepare individuals for the afterlife. Both men and women served as shamans, and membership in the Midewiwin was achieved only after years of instruction and four grades of membership. Even the lowest level required a long period of instruction in gathering herbs, diagnosing illnesses, and curing the sick.

Even Shaman who did not belong to the Medewiwin treated illness. They would place a tube on the patient's body and suck out the disease-causing object. Dreams and vision fasts are a means of communicating with the spirit world and Shamans acted as intermediaries between people and spirits. The djasakid was a special kind of shaman who conducted the "shaking tent" ceremony. These vision fasts involved people sitting around a 'shaking lodge'. The diviner would sing and drum the tent to attract spirits. Once they arrived they caused the tent to shake, and those in attendance would ask for guidance, the fate of missing relatives, location of game, or cures for illness.

Algonquian speakers of the Plains region are the Blackfoot, Blood, Pikunai, Cree, and Plains Ojibwa (Saulteux). The bison was the main source of food and goods on the Plains. It was so fundamental to the survival of the Plains people that it was the highest ranking of the animal spirits. The bison was a special gift from the creator and its body parts were attributed with special powers. Its skull was decorated and used in religious rituals, and the heart was eaten raw just after the kill. The bison were central symbols in dances, superstitions, taboos, secret societies, visions, and in cures for illness. The communal bison hunt was a time to gather meat for preservation, but it was also a time for social gathering. A special feast was held at the site of the bison hunt and fresh meat was prepared by roasting it over hot stones.

The military societies of the Blackfoot, known collectively as the aiinikiks, or All-Comrades, had one or two leaders who sat on the tribal council when the various groups united during the summer. Membership in the All-Comrades was by purchase only. Promotion in the various societies was basically graded by age. Every four years a man could sell his membership to a younger man and purchase that of an older man in the next appropriate society. Every grade, however, had to include at least four elderly men amongst its members so that wise counsel and experience were available at each stage.

In the funeral rites of the Plains cultures a corpse was wrapped in hide and laid on a platform raised on poles or placed in a tree. The scaffold kept the corpse out of reach of animals. There is also evidence of family members removing bones and placing them in the ground. The deceased were dressed in their finest clothes and the bodies were sewn into buffalo robes and placed in the fork of a tree. Remaining relatives mourned the deceased by cutting their hair, wearing old clothes, and smearing their faces with white clay.