The Cree (the Knisteneaux of Mackenzie) were closely related to the Ojibway; they spoke the same language, and had many customs in common. As Hayden wrote: "The Cree nation was originally a portion of the Chippewa, as the similarity of language proves; and even now they are so mingled with the latter people as with difficulty to be considered a distinct tribe, further than a slight difference in language and their local position." (Hayden, (1), p. 235.) Formerly they occupied the forest region to the eastward of the country which they later claimed. There they were probably accustomed to the mat or bark covered structures, similar to those of the neighboring Ojibway, but in more recent times, after having been attracted to the prairies by the buffalo, they followed the customs of the prairie tribes and for the most part made and used the typical conical skin-covered lodge. After reaching the open country, and becoming more accustomed to the life of roving hunters, they were necessarily less sedentary in their habits than formerly, and their camps probably seldom remained long in any one place. They became scattered over a wide region, and in 1856 it was said: "They number about ten or eleven hundred persons. Like most of the tribes in the Northwest Territory, they are separated into clans or bands, and live in different districts for greater advantages in hunting." Here is given a list of the several bands, with the number of skin lodges claimed by each group, but the "Pis-ka-kau-a-kis, or 'Magpies,' are about thirty lodges; are stationed at Tinder Mountain; live in dirt lodges and log-cabins; cultivate the soil to some extent, and raise considerable quantities of corn and potatoes; hunt buffalo during the winter, and trade also with the Hudson's Bay Company." (Hayden, (1), p. 237.) The same writer continues (p. 238): "Besides the foregoing there are about two hundred lodges more who are not formed into bands, but scattered along Lac de L'Isle Croix, and live by hunting reindeer, moose, fish, and wild fowl. They live in skin tents in the summer, but sometimes build log and bark huts in winter, and seldom more than one cabin is found in the same place. These are the poorest of the Crees." Thus it will be understood how scattered bands of the same tribe often reared and occupied several forms of habitations, influenced by their natural surroundings and requirements. And here are references to the use of the bark-covered lodge, the skin-covered lodge of probably a different shape, the structure covered with earth or sod, and, lastly, the log cabin, by widely dispersed bands of the Cree.