A young man follows a young woman for days without talking to her--this was a sign of his interest. She might go home and tell her parents. If the parents considered the boy to be a good match for their daughter, the father would offer a horse to the boy's father. If all agreed, the young man would sit down beside the girl in a new tipi built by her family. In the tipi, the young woman would present the young man with a pair of moccasins. If he accepted, the marriage was sealed. The couple then moved into the tipi together.

If the couple was incompatible, either the man or the woman would return to their parent's tipi. After a time both were free to marry again.

There were instances where the parents would not approve of their child's choice of mate. In this case, the couple would run away together and settle down with another tribe. In time, they would return to their parents, who would often accept the couple and the marriage.

Polygamy, wife exchange, and "sexual hospitality" were commonly permitted. Prosperous men could have two or more wives. In some cases, the first wife asked her husband to take another wife to help with the household work. The senior wife usually directed the others, but she and her children had no special privileges.

The Cree were the core of North America's largest alliance of tribes. This alliance included their cousins the Chippewa and the unrelated Assiniboine. The Cree were free to move from one band to another and marry outside their tribe. Some say this "elasticity" helps account for the tribe's resiliency through war and disease.

It was not uncommon for the European trappers who arrived in North America to marry Cree women. The children born of these marriages were called "Métis," which is the French term for "mixed blood". The Métis, became hunters, trappers, guides, and interpreters in the fur trade.