Plains Cree (self-designation Nēhiyawēwin) belongs to the Algonquian family, one of the great language families of North America. It is one dialect within the Cree dialect continuum, alongside Woods Cree, Swampy Cree, and others, distinguished in part by the reflex of a Proto-Algonquian sound. The Algonquian family spans a vast territory, from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast.

The Plains Cree live mainly on the prairies of Canada, in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba. Cree as a whole, across its dialects, is one of the most widely spoken Indigenous languages in Canada, with tens of thousands of speakers, though the exact number for the Plains dialect specifically is smaller. Traditionally, their culture was tied to bison hunting and a mobile way of life adapted to the great plains.

Colonial contact for the Cree was chiefly with French and English traders through the fur trade, especially the Hudson's Bay Company. The Cree language came to serve as a lingua franca of trade across large parts of the interior. Later, the numbered treaties with the British and Canadian Crown and the residential school system had a devastating impact on the transmission of language and culture.

Plains Cree is classified as an endangered language, but it retains greater vitality than many other Indigenous languages of Canada. There are immersion programs, educational materials, dictionaries, and growing use in digital media and literature. Significant revitalization efforts are underway today in First Nations communities and at Canadian universities.