Aboriginal People in the Fur Trade

BC First Nations Studies 12Ms. Inden

Some vocabulary

• Economy – the production, distribution and consumption of goods

• Contribution – when someone gives their help, knowledge, and helps something to happen, they are making a contribution– First Nations contributed a great deal to the

Europeans and the fur trade

Aboriginal peoples were in many ways the founders of the new nation

that would one day be Canada

• Why? Because with out their help, the Europeans would not have been successful

• During this period of history, First Nations performed many important jobs and were equal partners in the new fur trading economy

First Nations active participants

Carrier man setting an animal trap near Fort Nelson, about 1913

Aboriginal people were equal partners in the fur trade

• Aboriginal people trapped and prepared the hides for trade

• Trading took over much of the daily life of Aboriginal peoples– The lifestyles of the First Nations changed as

less time was spent on traditional activities and they become more dependent upon European goods

Trade Beneficial?

• Aboriginal people wanted to trade for many goods– Life could be easier - a factory made blanket

instead of woven cedar– Status goods changed – guns, iron carving

tools– Increased wealth and power

• Iron tools, pots, guns were important to them, as they did not have the technology to make iron

First Nations Contributions

• First Nations taught the Europeans:– The best canoe routes and trails for the fur trade– The foods needed to avoid diseases like scurvy– How to survive the harsh winter climate

Technology from the First Nations• Snowshoes• Birch bark Canoes• Toboggans• Housing• Moccasins, mittens,

leggings• Food sources

While Aboriginal people wanted European

technology, so too did Europeans need the

technology of the Aboriginal people

Aboriginal Women in the

Fur Trade

http://bcheritage.ca/tod/bios/wives1.htm

At home

• Labour Force – that is, women worked hard during the fur trade– Perhaps even harder than they had before– The men left communities behind to trap furs

for the fur trade– Women picked up the slack at home– Women tanned the hides that were sold– Cleaned and dried the salmon

Moccasins and Snow Shoes

• European men did not dress like First Nations people (mostly)

• However, they did adopt the shoe style - moccasins and snow shoes

• Aboriginal women tanned the hides and made the moccasins– At York Factory in the

1800s, women prepared 650 pairs of moccasins for just the summer season

– Imagine… the hard work necessary just to tan the hides!

• Women prepared the sinews and netted the snow shoes

Country Wives

• Women who married French, English, Scottish, American traders and trappers were known as Country Wives

• These women– Helped the Europeans learn the language and

customs of the First Nations – Helped First Nations learn the language and customs

of the Europeans• Were intermediaries

– Provided a home for them– Provided them with knowledge about the plants,

animals, which to eat, which to use as medicine– Acted as guides and interpreters, repaired birch bark

canoes, carried heavy packs

Example

• Political marriage – remember that pre-contact, trade relations were strengthened through marriages between First Nations

• The same when the Europeans arrived

• Read example, p. 72 – Dr. John Kennedy and daughter of Legeex

Aboriginal Rights• First important court case• Outcome: Aboriginal rights and laws existed in

Canada when the Europeans arrived (duh)• Connolly v Woolrich – p. 73

– Connolly lived with his first wife Suzanne, daughter of Cree Chief -30 years

– Left her and retired to Montreal– When he died, he left nothing for his first family– His son sued for half the inheritance– He won – Aboriginal law had not been eliminated by

the incoming English legal system

The Métis People

• People of European and Aboriginal descent

• The children of these marriages carried on to be traders and trappers and important in the development of Canada

Day-to-day hard work is not usually noticed as important, so you won’t always find this kind of thing in a history book. But, these women made all of this amazing history

possible. They also gave birth to a new nation of people. Sadly, as Canada became populated and settled, and the fur trade ended,

these women and their contributions will be forgotten and they were

pushed aside.

First Nations benefited from the fur trade

• Big Idea: – The Fur Trade was business between equals– The First Nations benefited from the trade

• European goods made life easier• Some Nations gained in wealth and power by having Forts in

their territory

– First Nations maintained control over their territories as very few settlers had arrived

– First Nations encouraged trade alliances with the traders, especially through marriage

– Some First Nations pushed other Nations out and gained more power and wealth

How did the fur trade hurt First Nations?

•BIG IDEA•War and competition between First Nations caused some nations to be eliminated or pushed out of traditional territory

–For example the Cree used newly acquired guns to push into the Dunne-za and Dene-thah territory, who in turn moved west and pushed into Sekani territory and displaced them

•Death from diseases like small pox–Up to 90% of some communities died from the diseases Europeans had that they had no immunity for

•Loss of traditional knowledge, culture and a reliance on European goods•Trading in alcohol