Chapter 4 Competition For The Fur Trade
BIG IDEA—How did the various people in North America work
together in the fur trade and compete to control it?
Vocabulary
1.Barter
The exchange of goods for other goods rather than money
2.Canadiens
A Francophone descendant of the settlers of New France
3.Cause
Something that makes an event happen.
4.Economy
The way in which people meet their basic needs, such as food, clothing
and shelter
The result of an event (of a cause)
5.Effect
6.Ethnocentrism
A viewpoint that judges other cultures according to personal values;
believing one’s own ethnic group is superior
7.First Contact
The first encounter between different groups of people with
different cultures
8.Merchants
In the fur trade, the financiers and organizers
9.Metis
People of mixed First Nations and European ancestry
10.Nor’Westers
A North West Company employee
11.Pemmican
A mixture of dried, shredded buffalo meat, fat and berries
12.Perspective
The generally shared point of view of a group. It can reflect the
outlook of people from that group.
13.Portage
Carrying boats or goods over land between waterways
14.Stockade
A wooden barrier of upright posts
15.Voyageurs
A Canadien or Metis employee of the North West Company who
paddled back and forth from Montreal to the trading forts in the
West
The Fur Trade: The Foundation of an Economy
When cultures came in contact for the first time, they learned about how different they
were from each other.
1. When Europeans first arrived on the coast of North America, how would they and the
First Nations likely have reacted to each other?
They would be surprised by their differences.
Probably both groups thought their culture was superior (ethnocentrism).
2. What motivated them to want to understand each other and get along?
They wanted to trade with each other.
3. What did each group want in terms of trade and why?
First Nations:
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valued metal goods, such as pots, knives, axes, copper wire, guns
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stronger and lasted longer than those made with wood or stone
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also traded for blankets, cloth, thread
Europeans:
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Furs: fox, marten, otter, bear, lynx, muskrat, wolf, beaver
used them for trims on coats and jackets.
beaver furs used to make hats
The Barter System: Exchange of goods rather than money.
4. What did Europeans at the time use for trade?
They traded both money (coins) and goods (bartering).
5. Trading furs for European goods was not a new concept for the First Nations, just a
new trading partner. First Nations had been trading among themselves for hundreds of
years; they had always bartered goods such as:
corn, tobacco, furs, copper, pottery, shells
6. In your opinion, did the First Nations trappers and the European traders benefit
equally from trade? Why or why not?
Probably they did not benefit equally. The European fur traders were paid 10 times more
for the pelts than they paid for goods to trade. Mark-up ensured they made great
profits.
7. Three Key Players in the Fur Trade:
First Nations:
-Men hunted and trapped animals.
-Women skinned them and prepared pelts.
- In spring, they traveled to trading posts and traded furs
for goods.
Merchants:
-Both French and English merchants financed_and
organized_the trade.
-They bought goods in Europe, then shipped them to Canada.
Then they shipped furs back to Europe.
Coureurs de bois and
voyageurs:
-Went out in canoes to trap furs, and brought furs back to
trading forts. Voyageurs were similar to coureurs de bois
8. Europeans needed help from the First Nations in many ways and couldn’t have coped
with the North American wilderness without that help:
 showing them how to find food
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teaching them about medicine to cure things like scurvy
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giving them advice about warm clothing
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providing canoes, snowshoes_and toboggans for transportation
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sharing knowledge of the region
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translating trade deals
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providing a workforce to cook food, sew moccasins, prepare pemmican, snare
animals, lace snowshoes.
9. First Nations women did not hunt for furs, but they played an equally important role in
the fur trade:
 prepared furs, worked in the forts, paddled the canoes, worked in the camps,
shared language and geography skills
The French Fur Trade
10. The fur trade in New France was the foundation of the economy; without the fur
trade, New France’s economy wouldn’t have existed. Draw a web/illustration to show
how trading, buying and selling spread from one person or business to the next:
11. Key people and developments of the French fur trade:
a. 1663-Jean-Baptiste Colbert-French minister under Louis XIV (the sun king)
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Promoted mercantilism in New France
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Didn’t allow trading posts in the interior; feared conflict with First Nations
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Relied on Wendat First Nations to bring furs to Montreal
b. 1665-Jean Talon-first Intendant of New France
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Supported local industry, attracted colonists and doubled the population of
New France
c. 1672-Governor Frontenac
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Wendat network of trade was failing (smallpox and conflict with
Haudenosaunee)
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Sent coureurs de bois into the interior
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Promoted fur-trading posts in the interior
d. 1701-The Great Peace of Montreal
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1300 delegates from 40 First Nations communities gathered in Montreal to
sign a peace treaty, along with the French

There would be no more battling and attacking of villages; trappers and
traders could finally travel safely
“The hatchet is stopped. We have buried it during these days here in the deepest
place in the earth, so that it will not be taken up again by one side or the other.”
What did the Wendat leader, Michipichy, mean by this quote?
“Bury the hatchet” is an idiom meaning “to make peace.” It was a First Nations
custom to literally bury a tomahawk weapon as a symbol of peace.
Effects of the Peace Treaty

there would be no more battling and attacking of villages

trappers and traders could finally travel safely

coureurs de bois expanded the fur trade further inland

the economy grew; mills, shipbuilding yards, iron foundries and textile
industries sprang up
e. Transportation

water routes were fast_and convenient

France controlled trade along the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes

English fur trade to the south was blocked_by the Adirondack Mts.

Birch bark canoes_were light, sturdy and perfect for travelling on lakes and
rivers
f. 1715-Pierre La Verendrye-fur trader and explorer

The French started looking for the Great Western Sea that lay beyond Lake
Superior. To what would this refer? The Pacific Ocean What would make it
difficult to reach this place? The Rocky Mountains

La Verendrye took charge of the French trading post near Lake Superior and
claimed land for the French.

Used the Saskatchewan River_as a main route for trade and exploration

started several trading posts in the West
The British Fur Trade
What was a major difference between the French and English approach during the early
fur trade?
The French were interested in colonizing (New France), whereas the British were not
interested in establishing a colony in what is now Canada. They only had one goal: to make
money through the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC).
What were the advantages for the British of setting up fur-trading forts along the icy
shores of the Hudson Bay?
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Close to lots of furs
Rivers flow into the bay – good transportation
Large ships could sail right into the bay to deliver goods
to forts and take furs back to Britain
HBC could get furs to England in one year, the French
took two
Isabel Gunn (1781-1861)
 disguised herself as a man so she could work for the HBC
 worked at a post on the Hudson Bay, then returned to Scotland
Converging in the West
SPOILER ALERT!!! After 1760, competition between French and English fur traders came
to a halt, because New France came under British control. (We’ll learn about that in the
next chapter.)
The North West Company
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English and Scottish businessmen started up a new fur-trading company out of
Montreal called the North West Company. They became known as Nor’Westers.
This company was in competition with the HBC.
The company hired Francophone citizens known as Canadiens to paddle canoes and
haul supplies for the fur trade – the Voyageurs
Many of the French traders settled with First Nations wives and created a new
people – called what? Metis
The Metis played an important role in the fur trade – acted as interpreters, knew
more than one culture, helped supply buffalo meat to Western trading posts,
worked as voyageurs and employees in trading posts
In fact, most employees of the North West Company were either French or Metis
Trade expanded further and further into the west
Crossing the Rockies: The Rocky Mountains were a huge
barrier that for many years prevented the fur trade and
the Voyageurs from pushing further westward. What was
significant about the Nor’Wester, Alexander MacKenzie?
He found a route through the Rockies and was the first
explorer to successfully cross the entire continent from
east to west, reaching the Pacific Ocean in 1793.
The Impact of Contact
Contact between Europeans and First Nations during the fur trade had both positive
and negative effects.
Positives
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Cultures learned from each other
(new technology, language, etc.)
New culture created: the Metis
Negatives
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Europeans took over First Nations
land
First Nations lost some culture
Many First Nations killed by
disease
Violence
“Whiskey” trade led to many
problems