Economy of Fur Trading 


During the fur trade, the economy was based on bartering goods and determining prices based on values of a particular item, like beaver pelts.  In the 19th century, there were 2 major fur trading companies, HBC & NWC that impacted life in Canada, like the Northwest. 

Barter System =
Direct exchange of goods or services without the use of money or any other intervening medium of exchange. Barter is conducted either according to established rates of exchange or by bargaining. 
Everything has a value point.  How were “prices” determined?  
  • The need in Europe for beaver and other pelts.
  • The availability of the beaver and other animal pelts.
Pelts

-Especially wanted Beaver (high value in Europe) 
-Bison hides (less value) 

Food

-Bison meat 

-Pemmican (pg. 141)
      -high energy food from dried meat 
      -At first, the Metis sold pemmican only to their ally, the NWC.  
       After the merger of the NWC and HBC in 1821, they also sold pemmican to the new HBC.
  • The need in Canada for European goods.
  • The availability of European goods.

The value of different goods to the First Nations: 

Guns   (pg. 135) 

-European guns were available at the trading posts.  
-Supposed to make it easier to hunt bison and caribou. 
-The guns jammed so often in winter that Native hunters had to go back to using their traditional lances, along with bows and arrows. 

Iron Pots   (pg. 136)  

-Traditionally, the aboriginal peoples had cooked their food by roasting it over a fire or by placing a hot stone in it until boiled. 
-The European iron pot though relatively cheap to produce, was prized because it made cooking more efficient.  

Alcohol & Tobacco 

-Wanted this but also made them sick. 
-For many Native groups, anxious to induce visionary states, alcohol would initially have seemed a means to smooth their contacts with the spirit world. 
-Traders found the First Nations anxious to consume huge quantities of liquor. 
Other Considerations: 

  • Trade relations between different groups.
  • The amount of work needed to manufacture a good.

Examine the 2 companies: 

Read textbook pages 130-133 (starting at "The Hudson's Bay Company") & complete the chart comparing the companies. 

Impact of the Fur Trade 

The following notes reference pg. 135-136 & 139-140 in the textbook, in addition to a few other sources. 
  • Many Native peoples became so involved with the fur trade that it disrupted their way of life. 

-Trappers were trying to keep up with the demand of furs (especially with increased competition) 
-Full time trappers abandoned their yearly cycle of fishing, hunting & preserving food 
-While anxious to secure trade items, the First Nations had no wish to let their culture be tampered with
-Suffered from dislocation:  they freely chose to move in order to better profit from the trade, but it also impacted their culture... "Creation myths" which were accounts of the origins of their people, stressed that their identity was tied to geographic locations
  • Clash of cultural values. 

-Native peoples did not subscribe to the Protestant work ethic of "work for work's sake." 
-They worked to sustain themselves & their families 
-Would escort traders inland but also abandon them without guilt (viewed as irresponsible to Europeans) 
-Native culture shifted away from community living and towards more atomized living as trappers traded with individuals rather than with bands
-Individuals depended on the European traders for their success, rather than on the collective efforts of the tribe to hunt game.  They felt less pressure to redistribute the goods they received. 
  • Exposure to disease & addiction. 

-Exposure to diseases like smallpox and measles (Europeans built immunity to the first and most survived the second)
-Outbreaks would kill off huge numbers (ie. 29 ppl. in the fall and only 3 by the following spring) 
-Traders actively tried to cultivate a Native taste for alcohol and tobacco 
-Became heavily addicted to substances in attempt to induce visionary states & led to violence 
  • Depletion of resources. 

-Increased competition of furs also resulted in depletion of resources and less untapped areas 
-Large game became decreased so they had to rely on smaller game 
  • Marriages leading to a new sense of identity and culture. 

-Traders began wintering and staying with local groups of Natives peoples 
-Number of fur traders married the daughters of Native families 
-NWC viewed marriage as a way to ensure trading loyalty.  HBC refused because they didn't want to support dependents. 
-Native elders also viewed this as an advantage  (offered father money) 
-Wives of fur traders enjoyed an improved standard of living 
-By the early 19th century, a large number of Northwest people were of European-Native ancestry and this evolved into a new culture
-At first, they called themselves "burnt wood" but later saw themselves as a distinct group of mixed ancestry and called themselves "Metis" from the French word for "mixed" 
-Developed communities and a lifestyle in the Red River that combined both Native and European customs