not fixed and is based on differing interpretations of what constitutes a "tribe". The Blackfoot people consist of three dialect groups who were close allies, the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai; they are sometimes considered separate tribes or nations in their own right. The largest First Nations cultural group by population in Alberta is the Cree, if the Woodlands Cree and Plains Cree are counted together. Thirty-two First Nations bands in Alberta are affiliated with Cree culture and are related to other Cree peoples across Canada as far east as Labrador. The Woodland Cree practised a Subarctic culture, and the Plains Cree a Plains culture and they spoke different but related dialects of the Cree language. Several peoples in Alberta fall under the term Dene, which is a name used by many related peoples in the Northwest Territories. In Alberta this includes the Beaver, Chipewyan, Slavey, and Sarcee. All Dene peoples share similar spiritual beliefs and social organization, but the Sarcee people are a Plains people, while the others are Subarctic. The Stoney people are related to the Assiniboine and Sioux and may be considered a branch of either of those groups. The Stoney themselves are divided into Woodlands (Paul and Alexis bands) and Plains sections (Bearspaw, Chiniki, and Welsey bands). The Saulteaux people are represented by only one band in Alberta, the O'Chiese First Nation. There many other Saulteaux bands in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, however, and the Saulteaux themselves a branch of the larger Ojibwe and Anishinaabe groups. Besides all of these groups, there are also non-Status Indians of mixed Cree-Iroquois origin living in Hinton-Grande Cache region of the Rocky Mountains and foothills. They are represented by the Aseniwuche Winewak Nation of Canada, which is a non-for-profit society and not a band under the Indian Act. Other tribes are known to have inhabited Alberta in the past. The Cluny Earthlodge Village at Blackfoot Crossing is a unique-in-Canada example of a permanent fortified village of earthlodges probably built around 1740 CE by Hidatsa or Mandan peoples. The Assiniboine people lived in Alberta at the time of European contact, and it is thought that the Stoney people who still live in the province began as a branch of the Assiniboine. Early accounts by European explorers suggest that the Eastern Shoshone are thought to have lived in Alberta before being displaced by in Blackfoot by 1787. The Gros Ventres were reported