PRE/POST SITE TEACHER MATERIALS
THE ILLINOIS
FUR TRADE
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Museum Field Trip
Integrate these resources into your classroom to maximize student learning from your educational program.
Reference:
Source:
Glossary of Terms
Forest Preserve District of Will County
Activity:
Source:
Fur Trader Game
Central Alberta Regional Consortium
Student Worksheet:
Source:
Fur Trade Job Match
Northwest Territories, Department of Education, Culture and
Employment
Student Worksheet:
Source:
Fur Trade & Goods
Forest Preserve District of Will County
Copy Page:
Source:
Map of New France.
National Archives of Canada
Reference:
Source:
Recommended Readings & Recommended Web Sites
Various
Correlated State Standards
Source:
Forest Preserve District of Will County, the Council of Chief
Sate School Officers (Common Core), and the National
Research Council (NGSS)
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Museum Field Trip
Reference: Glossary of Terms
Source:
Forest Preserve District of Will County
Barter/Trade/Exchange = A form of material exchange where two or more items are
exchanged without the use of money.
Brain-tanning = Use of an animal’s brain (usually deer) matter in curing and softening the
hide for use as clothing.
Canoe = A light narrow boat with both ends sharp that is usually propelled by paddling.
Castor = French word for beaver.
Fire Bow and Drill = Used together to make fire.
Gourd = any of various hard-rinded inedible fruits of plants of two genera (Lagenaria and
Cucurbita) often used for ornament or for vessels and utensils
Makuk = Made of birch bark. Can be used as a container to hold food or other items.
Used to collect maple sap in the late winter, early spring.
Mangeur du Lard (pork eater) = A summer-only voyageur, a rookie to the trade. Refers to
heir prepared rations of pork fat/grease mixed with corn meal.
Métis = a person of mixed blood; especially the offspring of an American Indian and a
person of European ancestry.
New France = The northeastern part of modern Canada. Capitol is Quebec.
Piece (pe-ays) = A trade bundle/pack weighing approximately 80-90 pounds.
Pipe (peep) = Literally, a pipe to smoke tobacco. Term also used to describe a rest period
during the traders journey.
Rawhide: Parfleche, cord for tools, drums. This is the deer’s skin before it has been braintanned. It is merely scraped and left to dry.
Rendezvous = Annual event in mid-summer at outlying forts/posts where wintering
traders came to exchange their furs for goods & supplies. This is usually followed by a
celebration of dancing, drinking, etc.
Tanned Deer Skin =Can be used for clothing, moccasins, shelter, warmth, cut into
cordage. The deer skin was prepared by the women by scraping the hide, and then
soaking the skin in a solution of deer’s brain and water, and finally drying it over smoky
coals.
Voyageur = Traveler, but in the fur trade era it meant the paddlers of the canoe, bluecollar laborers for the trip.
.
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Museum Field Trip
Activity:
Source:
Fur Trader Game
Central Alberta Regional Consortium
Divide the class into two groups:
•
Aboriginal People
•
Traders
Materials:
Trading Goods tokens representing various trade items
• Beaver Pelts
• Cooking Pot
• Wool Blanket
• Gun
• Knife
Include Trading Goods and Values on the tokens:
• 1 knife
= 1 beaver pelt
• 1 cooking pot
= 2 beaver pelts
• 1 wool blanket
= 3 beaver pelts
• 1 gun
= 6 beaver pelts
Divided tokens between the Aboriginal People and the Traders
• Each Aboriginal has 20 beaver pelts
• Each Trader has trade goods worth 20 pelts.
Example values to start:
1 gun, 3 wool blankets, 2 cooking pots, 1 knives = 20 beaver pelts
Have the Traders figure out the combination of trade goods that they would like to have
for trading. Blank tokens are provided so that other trade goods may be added as needed.
Strategy:
Have Aboriginal People and Traders trade their goods with each other. Have the
Aboriginals figure out what some of the different combinations of goods are that an
Aboriginal person can get for one beaver pelt. Everyone must trade everything they have
until there are no more possible deals. Caution students to make sure they make accurate
deals and get full value for their trades.
Play the game several times and vary the game each time so that sometimes there are
more Traders than Aboriginal People and other times more Aboriginal People than
Traders.
Discussion:
Have the students describe any problems that occur. Have them compare what happens
when there are more Aboriginal People that want to trade and what happens when there
are more Traders.
Trade Goods Tokens:
Wool blanket
Cooking pot
Knife
Gun
Wool blanket
Cooking pot
Knife
Gun
Wool blanket
Cooking pot
Knife
Gun
Wool blanket
Cooking pot
Knife
Gun
Wool blanket
Cooking pot
Knife
Gun
Wool blanket
Cooking pot
Knife
Gun
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Beaver pelt
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Field Trip
Student Worksheet:
Source:
Fur Trade Job Match
Northwest Territories, Department of Education,
Culture and Employment.
www.ece.gov.nt.ca/files/K-12/Curriculum/socialstudies
Grade Four Social Studies 6
Job Matching Activity Teacher KEY
Tradesmen = I build fine barrels . . .
Translator = I speak Chipewyan . . .
Governor = I am responsible for everything that goes on in this fort.
Voyageur = I paddle the canoe better than anyone who has ever lived.
Surgeon
= I set broken bones . . .
Labourer
= I work like a dog . . .
Fur Trade Job Match
Draw a line from the fur trade job to the correct “job description”
Job in the Company
Job Description
Tradesman
I am responsible for everything
that goes on in this fort.
Translator
I build fine barrels and
furniture from the trees
around the fort.
Officer
(Governor)
I set broken bones and sew up
the cuts that the men get from
their work or fighting during
the long winters here in the
fort.
Voyageur
I work like a dog from sunrise
to sunset in this frozen shack
of a fort. I wish I'd gone to
school and learned to write.
Officer
(Surgeon)
I paddle the canoe better than
anyone who has ever lived. I
help steer the canoe in rapids
and watch for rocks. I have
eyes like an eagle. I lost my pipe
on the last portage!
Labourer
I speak Chipewyan, Cree and
Slavery, as well as French and
English. I help to negotiate with
the people for their furs.
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Field Trip
Student Worksheet:
Source:
Furs & Trade Goods
Forest Preserve District of Will County
Draw 3 trade goods that French Voyageurs bring from New France to the Illinois
Country to trade.
Name 3 animals whose fur is valuable to trade:
1) ________________
2) ________________
3) ________________
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Field Trip
Copy Page:
Source:
Map of New France
National Archives of Canada
Map of western New France, including the Illinois Country, by Vincenzo
Coronelli, 1688.
Have students identify the following places on this historical map:
• New France (Canada)
• Lake Michigan
• Des Plaines River
• Montreal
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Museum Field Trip
Recommended Readings
Bailey, Katherine. Radisson & des Groseilliers: Fur Traders of the North. Crabtree
Company: In the Footsteps of Explorers Series, 2006.
Publishing
Demers, Barbara. Willa’s New World. Regina: Coteau Books, nd.
Durbin, William. The Broken Blade. Random House, 1998.
Ernst, Kathleen. Trouble at Fort LaPointe. American Girl Publishing, 2000.
Gibson, Karen Bush. The Potawatomi. Bridgestone Books: Native Series, 2002.
Provides an overview of the past and present lives of the Potawatomi
Native Americans,
covering their daily life, homes, customs and beliefs, and government.
Graubart, Norman D. Beavers in American History. Powerkids Press: How Animals Shaped History
Series, 2014.
Wargin, Kathy-Jo. The Voyageur’s Paddle. Sleeping Bear Press, 2007.
Recommended Web Sites
Canot du Maitre – Canoe of the North. This interactive poster allows you to click on items to
learn more about what voyageurs packed with them on their journey.
http://www.hbcheritage.ca/content/canoe/dash/full
Videos. This link includes a series of videos presented by the Woodland Indian Educational
Programs. Topics include sugar mapleing and building a wigwam.
http://www.woodlandindianedu.com/medialearning.html
Indian Hudson’s Bay Company Trade Goods. Brief discussion on trade goods of the Hudson's
Bay Company. Knives, axes, beads, and other trade items used for bartering for furs from native
peoples. http://youtu.be/5-b-H67J2iM
Primitive Bone Tools from Deer Bones. We will examine and explain how to recycle the bones
and antlers into primitive tools and games. http://youtu.be/vIGGg84ZUDY
Pre/Post Site Teacher Materials
Program: The Trade
Isle a la Cache Museum Field Trip
Correlated Common Core State Standards
Source: Forest Preserve District of Will County and the Council of Chief Sate School
Officers (CCSSO)
Identified ELA and Math Standards are detailed
below specific to this education program.
ELA Standards
Subject Code
K
Social Studies/History (RH) RH.K.4,
RH.K.6,
Speaking and Listening (SL) SL.K.1,
SL.K.2
Language (L)
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
RH.1.4,
RH.1.6
SL.1.1,
SL.1.2
L.1.4
RH.2.4,
RH.2.6
SL.2.1,
SL.2.2
L.2.4
L.2.6
RH.3.4,
RH.3.6
SL.3.2,
RH.4.4,
RH.4.6
SL.4.2
RH.5.4,
RH.5.6
SL.5.2
RH.6.4,
RH.6.6
L.3.4,
L.3.6
L.4.4,
L.4.6
L.5.4,
L.5.6
L.6.4,
L.6.6
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
MATH Standards
Subject Code
K
Counting and Cardinality (CC) K.CC.5,
K.CC.6
Operations and Algebra (OA) K.OA.1
Grade 1
1.OA.5,
1.OA.6
Measurement and Data (MD) K.MD.2, 1.MD.1,
K.MD.3 5.MD.1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Correlated Next Generation of Science Standards
Source: Forest Preserve District of Will County and the National Research Council
(NRC)
Identified Science Standards are detailed below
specific to this education program.
NGSS Standards
Disciplinary Idea
K
Earth and Space, Human K.ESS3.1
Activity (ESS3)
Physical Science, Ecosystems
(PS2)
Engineering, Tech, and K.ETS1.3
Science 1, Engineering
(ETS1)
Grade
1
Grade
2
2.PS2.2
1.ETS1.3
2.ETS1.3
Grade
3
Grade
4
Grade
5
MS
PS1.3