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Aboriginal perspective on the fur trade essay
Native women and the Canadian fur trade
Native women role in fur trade
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Aboriginal women had occupied an essential position in the fur trade of the North American region from its birth during the 17th and 18th centuries. Even though this is true, the role of women, especially those of the Native American society, has been ignored a great deal in the entire history of fur trade. Contrary to the belief that the whole fur trade activity was only male-dominated, it very much depended upon Native women and their participation and labor in order to ensure survival as well as economic success. This paper will attempt to illuminate how Native women played the role as important producers when it comes to fur trade of the American Plains and, of course, the Canadian region. This paper will also deal with the two important company's namely the North West and Hudson's Bay Company and tell how each functioned during the time of fur trade. The term “fur traders” is the term often used to described anyone who was interested in the traffic of furs. The traditional picture has been that of a male in buckskin shirt and a raccoon cap, dispensing alcohol and trinkets to gullible savages, in turn for the quality furs worth 10 times their value. As stated before, Aboriginal women played an essential role not only as bed partners, but in the fur trade industry as well. Without the help of their intelligent skills and diligent hard work ,the fur trade would not be such a success. The fur traders of this time married Aboriginal women. These women put in tons, and tons of work at the posts. They often went with their husbands on fur-trading trips and acted as guides. They were far from lazy individuals. They worked with their husbands and men in general to maneuver the canoes and they also helped to carry the heavy loads a... ... middle of paper ... ...ils and new directions: papers of the third North American Fur Trade Conference. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1980. Kelm, Mary, and Lorna Townsend. In the days of our grandmothers: a reader in Aboriginal women's history in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006. Kirk, Sylvia. Many tender ties: women in fur-trade society, 1670-1870. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 19831980. Kugel, Rebecca, and Lucy Eldersveld Murphy. Native women's history in eastern North America before 1900: a guide to research and writing. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. MacDougall, Brenda. One of the Family: Metis Culture in Nineteenth-Century Northwestern Saskatchewan. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2010. Smith, Susan. Rethinking the fur trade: cultures of exchange in an Atlantic world. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2009.
Steckley, J., & Cummins, B. D. (2008). Full circle: Canada's First Nations (2nd ed.). Toronto:
The French Fur Trade Beginning in the mid sixteenth century, French explorers were able to establish a powerful and lasting presence in what is now the Northern United States and Canada. The explorers placed much emphasis on searching and colonizing the area surrounding the St. Lawrence River “which gave access to the Great Lakes and the heart of the continent”(Microsoft p?). They began exploring the area around 1540 and had early interactions with many of the Natives, which made communication easier for both peoples when the French returned nearly fifty years later. The French brought a new European desire for fur with them to America when they returned and began to trade with the Indians for furs in order to supply the European demands. The Natives and the French were required to interact with each other in order to make these trades possible, and, over time, the two groups developed a lasting alliance.
Winona Wheeler’s essay, “Cree Intellectual Traditions in History” analyzes the oral history of First Nations Elders. She specifically questions the identities of the Elders telling their story and how they have attained the stories that they are telling. Wheeler’s thesis is that the Elders are not mere storages of knowledge, they are humans. And as the days go on, few of them remain which makes it even more relevant to take in what they have and pass it on to the newer generations.
In the book “Commerce by a Frozen Sea: Native Americans and the European Fur trade”, authors Ann M. Carlos and Frank D. Lewis explore the social and economic behavior of the parties involved in the fur trade. The authors study how the Hudson’s Bay Company evolved, how native Indians behaved as consumers and the decline of Beaver hunting and industrialization. In chapter 3 of the book, the authors talk about how Indians were a replica of modern consumers who base their purchasing decisions on price, quality, quantity, availability of substitutes and finally their willingness to trade-off their leisure for more consumption goods. The authors analyze the use of alcohols in gift ceremonies to mark the opening of trade. They state that gifts were a mere gesture by the companies who aimed to transfer some of the overplus to the natives. Although they wished to get more trade in the particular good given as gift, it was seen from the data that gifts did not have any impact on increase in consumption pattern of a particular
In the “Women in between”: Indian Women in fur Trade Society in Western Canada, historical paper by Sylvia Van Kirk a University of Toronto professor of History and Women’s studies. This article is about Indian women who were in between the Hudson's Bay and St. Lawrence-Great Lake men and the Europeans, the roles women played during the fur trade, the union between native and mixed-blood women with the traders and the advantages the traders had from the native and mixed-blood women.
The author’s purpose in writing this biography is to record, “this fascinating piece of Saskatchewan history,” (p. 215). Furthermore she writes
The beaver fur was the most popular and the Indians’ knew how to find them. The Indians’ would trade the furs for tools made of metal. The British and the French wanted the furs for commercial trade, the fur pelts were very popular in other parts of the world. The French’s commercial fur trade was completely dependent on the Indians’. Eventually, the goods exchanged by the French for the furs were guns. The British traded alcohol for the beaver furs, which the Indians’ took a great liking to (Tignor, R., et al, (2002), pg. 485). While the beaver trade was plentiful, it served well for the British, the French, and the Indians’ The Indians’ loss of land and trading with the British and the French eventually leads to a cultural and lifestyle change for the
It is important to have an understanding of the events as a whole in Canada before delving into the different roles people played. It is also important to understand the impact of the fur trade on Canada’s natural resources and its impact on the economy because they directly correlate to the negative impact the fur trade had on the way of life of the Indigenous people. This source is important because it is an introduction to the events of the fur trade, and the way it came about in Canada. It explores the start of the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company, and their ensuing tension and competition. It also explains the economic side of the fur trade, and how that in turn effected the way Canada is today as a country. From reading about the fur trade economically, it allows for a better view of how that impacted the Indigenous way of life. This source will offer a general overview of the events of the fur trade, although a weakness of it is that it is European centred. However, this source is relevant because it is important to consider all perspective when looking at history so a more whole view of the past is
The fur trade was one of the most notable events in Canadian history. Although it seems both the French and the First Nations benefited equally from the fur trade, I believe that the French were benefited more from the fur trade. In 1629, the Jesuits travelled to Quendake and had decided to handle the Récollets’ work. The first European settlement, Sainte-Marie, was used for missionary work and according to the textbook, “It would be the centre of thriving Ouendat.” They decided, they would try to convince the Ouendats to convert to Catholicism. However, their mission went unsuccessfully as only a few Ouendats had accepted this offer. After their unsuccessful mission, they decided to create many different settlements throughout New France.
The fur trade was proved to be significant in Canadian history because it shaped Canadian economy and changed the lives of native people. Moreover, fur trade also influenced the relations of natives with European traders.
The Canadian Fur Trade began when the French, new to the land, offered the natives of the land French goods such as kettles, knives, and other gifts, to create friendships; the natives gave the French fur pelts in exchange (Barbour 4). The fur trade “fostered the interchange of knowledge, technology, and material culture,” created a solid foundation for military alliances, and helped form new cultures and cultural identities (Foran 2). It was a way for the people of New France to keep alliances with the Aboriginal people against their common southern enemies, the British (Foran 22). The fur trade was the start of Canada and the life for people there, especially voyageurs. The fur trade shaped the economic, political, and social aspects of
The fur trade has diminished, and in many states, it is now illegal to trap and kill animals for their fur. It is a very controversial issue today, but many of our ancestors trapped and traded furs to make a living. Today, instead of hunting and trapping, many animals are raised on farms then their pelts are harvested. Animal rights organizations oppose the fur trade, complaining that animals are brutally killed. Synthetic fur imitations are now often used. The beaver pelt trade in the 1700’s was responsible for the development of Canada. The abundance of beaver in the Rupert Area, which is around the Great Lakes, was the perfect area to set up the beaver trade. European traders worked with aboriginal people to trade their
Firstly, native American women have been traditionally marginalized in Canadian culture, and it is important to include indigenous women. Furthermore, she is an important figure from a period of Canada’s history that is just as important yet often forgotten. Finally, she symbolizes cooperation between a dominant culture and indigenous peoples, and promotes a positive future to reconciliation.
Moodie, Susanna. Roughing it in the Bush; Or, Life in Canada. London, England: Richard Bentley, 1852) and 3rd. ed. (1854). Print
In failing to address a female perspective only half of the story is being told. There are many customs that only a woman will know, and understand the full extent of. This is my main critique of Dion’s work in that if the other side was acknowledged, it would have not only strengthened the paper, but given the reader an enhanced understanding of what it truly means to be a Cree woman. I will give Dion credit for not attempting to take on that perspective himself as it is not appropriate to do so for obvious reasons. Mandelbaum on the other hand highlights the role women played in the community accurately depicting both the unfavourable, and postive aspects of