Transcript The Fur Trade - Aboriginal Perspectives

The Fur Trade
The sixteenth century to late
nineteenth century.
Pre Contact
Before European contact the Indigenous
peoples of the Americas people survived by
using resources off of the land.
In this time period there were systems of
governance established and a strong culture
which was both respected and celebrated.
Ships along the coast
• In the early sixteen hundreds European ships
sailed the coasts of North and South America,
looking for a way across the land between
them and China.
• In 1610 Captain Henry Hudson sailed his ship
into a northern strait which led into a wide
bay. The next time Europeans came into
Hudson Bay, nearly 50 years later, the sailors
were looking for fur not China.
The Nonsuch
• King Charles of England asked a number of
wealthy Englishmen as well the Frenchmen
Radisson and Groseillier to sail ships into the
bay. They were hoping to bring back many
furs, however storms and ice turned the first
ship back to England. In September 1668 a
second ship named the Nonsuch reached the
bay safely with Groseillier on board.
Men on the Nonsuch
• The crew from the Nonsuch built a small fort
where they lived for the winter and in the
spring the Indigenous people came to trade
their furs.
• In June of 1669 the Nonsuch sailed back to
England, arriving in October.The owners of the
Nonsuch were so pleased with the furs that
they decided to form a company that would
send ships every year to trade on the bay.
The Monopoly
• The king gave the newly formed company a
monopoly of trade in the area. This meant
that no one else would be allowed to trade
there. All of the collected furs must only be
sold to the Hudson Bay Company.
The North American Fur Trade
• Trading was not a foreign concept to
Indigenous people as they traded amongst
themselves, everything from copper tools to
pottery.
Trading Posts
• At first the Europeans returned to England
with the ships each year. Soon the Hudson Bay
Company began building trading posts which
allowed the Europeans to live at the post all
year round.
The Métis
• Many of the European men developed
relationships with Indian women and the
resulting children came to be called Métis.
Métis people were valuable during the fur
trade as they could speak the languages of the
indigenous people and were reliable and
resourceful.
The Beaver
• The beaver has two kinds of fur. Next to its
skin is a warm woolly coat however over this
wool grows the long silky guard hairs.
• The supply of fur-bearing animals in
western Europe was largely exhausted
however fur was still a symbol of elegance
and wealth.
Currency
The Indigenous people did not use money in
their trading but the Europeans used a
currency system. In the trading between
these two groups the beaver pelt became the
currency system.
Currency continued
• Tokens were made and items to be traded
were measured against the value of a beaver
pelt.
• For example, four martins were equal to one
beaver.
System of currency
• European traders brought along with them a
number of items, which they knew, would
assist Indigenous people in their daily lives
and these items had a trading value in terms
of beaver pelts. For example in one list of the
value of goods one gun cost 12 beaver pelts.
French Fur Traders go west.
• Fur traders from New France (Quebec)
paddled their canoes south west to trade. A
difference between these traders and the
Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) traders is that
they were mobile when trading and met the
Indigenous people to trade rather than
waiting for them to come to a trading post.
French Traders go west.
• Among the traders who travelled west was
Pierre Gaultier de Varenesse, Sieur de La
Verendrye and his 50 men.
• La Verendrye built a number of trading posts
along the rivers for the Indigenous people to
bring their furs to the French instead of taking
the furs as far as the Hudson Bay.
French Traders
• The French soon became a strong force in the
west and posts have been built as far as the
Saskatchewan river.
• There is a constant battle for power between
the French and English. The French captured
the English post on Hudson Bay and the
English captured Quebec.
The Final Battle
• A seven year war between France and
England in the 17th century put the fur trade
on hold.
• The Treaty of Paris at the end of the seven
year war put an end to France's position as a
major colonial power in the Americas
North West Company
• Fur traders from the British colony began to
travel towards the western plains looking for
furs. At first most of these peddlers worked by
themselves, travelling for long periods of time
to the western plains and back to Montreal.
North West Company
• In 1784 many of the peddlers formed the
North West Company (NWC) and a few years
later another large groups of traders joined
the newly formed company.
• NWC had two partners, Montreal partners
who sold furs and bought trade goods, as well
as partners who stayed in the west and traded
with indigenous people. These workers were
known as the wintering partners.
HBC and NWC
• In 1821 the two companies decided to end
their competition for the furs and join
together under one name.
• The new company would still be known as the
Hudson’s Bay Company because it was the
HBC that, under the Royal Charter, still
controlled the route from the Hudson Bay.
Ending of the Fur Trade
The fur trade had slowly dissolved, partially due
to the lack of furs and also the lack of
Indigenous people who were willing to assist
in trapping and trading the furs. The change
in style in Europe from fur to silk was the final
blow to the North American Fur Trade.
At the end of the fur trade many traders went to
work on the rail road, mining and lumbering.
References
Neering, Rosemary. The Fur Trade. Markham,
Ont.: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1985.
http://www.furtradestories.ca/era_precontact.h
tml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_trade
References Continued.
http://www1.canadiana.org/hbc/stories/produit
s2_e.html
http://www.metisnation.ca