Unit 4 - The Changing Relationships During the Fur Trade READY Flashcards
This became a significant force in the fur trade between the 1780s and 1821, By the 18th century, the fur trade was extended into the prairies. Eventually, _______________ established a fur trade post at Fort Gibraltar at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers in Winnipeg.
North West Company
In 1821, NWC and HBC merged into one entity – called the _______________. The HBC, after 1821, as a monopoly, enjoyed significant profits throughout what is now Canada. By 1870, the HBC’s vast territory in the West was transferred to Canada, and a trickle of settlers coming from Ontario became a flood. As settlement spread north and west, the HBC and rival free traders intensified the trade’s northward push, eventually establishing enduring trading contacts with the Inuit.
Hudson’s Bay Company
19th century - or Siglit, as they referred to themselves, were the most numerous of the aboriginal peoples in the Canadian Arctic at the beginning of the historic era. Population estimates range upward to 4000. they are among the least known of the Canadian Inuit. This is due in part to their aggressiveness, which discouraged the first Europeans in the area from interacting closely with them, and also to massive reductions in population that occurred during the late 1800s and early 1900s due to introduced diseases.
Mackenzie Inuit
_______________ or spruce root used for stitching birch bark, was generally gathered in the early spring when the ground was moist and the sap ran. spruce root was essential for canoe construction and repair.
wattap
Geoge Bonga (5Ws)
WHO:a fur trader of both Native American and Black ancestry
WHAT: known for his work as a fur trader and a guide for early European explorers and traders in the Minnesota and Wisconsin regions. He worked as an intermediary between the Indigenous peoples (specifically the Ojibwe) and European traders. A key figure in the early history on Minnesota
WHERE: Minnesota
WHEN:Born in 1802, played a role in the fur trade in the 18-1900’s.
WHY: Bonga represents an early Black presence in Minnesota, demonstrating how African Americans were part of the fur trade economy.
Inuit Fur Trade (5Ws)
WHO: Indigenous/Inuit peoples of Canadian Arctic and European traders including christian missionaries
WHAT: impact on Inuit culture, the introduction of European tools and goods, and the shift from semi-nomadic lifestyle to living in government recommended areas
WHERE: Canadian Artic
WHEN: lasted into the 20th century with changes in 1960’s and 70’s.
WHY: the trade affected Inuit culture by the introduction of tools and goods that changed traditional lifestyle. Overtime Canadian government approach to the arctic shifted, centralized Inuit living, resulting in a declined of semi-nomadic lifestyle
The Bombardier Channel Site (5Ws)
WHO: Mackenzie Inuit
WHAT: a grave or burial site, containing human skeletons,cultural artifacts, observed eroding from a riverbank
WHERE:the juncture of Oniak and Bombardier channels in the Mackenzie Delta, approximately 70 km south of the treeline.
WHEN:19th century
WHY:The site’s archaeological significance lies in its potential to provide evidence of how Inuit culture adapted and changed during the period of European contact, particularly with the introduction of European goods like metal tools, clothing, and trade items
Disappearance of the Stadacona (5Ws)
WHO:Jacques Cartier
WHAT: gradual loss of the Stadacona people as a distinct group. This process involved the decline of their population and culture, primarily due to European contact, disease, displacement, and cultural assimilation with other Indigenous groups
WHERE: St. Lawrence river valley Canada
WHEN:1500’s-1600’s
WHY: This process involved the decline of their population and culture, primarily due to European contact, disease, displacement, and cultural assimilation with other Indigenous groups
Explain the concept:
Effects of the Fur trade
The arrival of European missionaries, alongside the fur trade, led to the conversion of many Indigenous peoples to Christianity, it brought intermarriage between Indigenous women and European men. These unions led to the creation of the Métis, a distinct cultural group of mixed Indigenous and European descent
Christianization, Intermarriage, Armed conflict, Over-Trapping, Disease, Expansion of European society
Explain the concept:
Differing approaches to intermarrying NWC & HBC
The French voyageurs of the North West Company, who crewed the big canoes, began to marry Indigenous women and live year-round in the area. The children of these marriages (later referred to as either Bois Brules or Métis) learned from their Indigenous families to hunt the buffalo and prepare pemmican, the staple food of the fur trade.
Explain the concept:
Contributions of Indigenous women from fur trade to rural laborer
Indigenous women were vital to the economic survival of fur trade and settlements. They performed a range of tasks that were crucial to the success of the trade, including preparing animal pelts for market and providing food for both Indigenous and European traders.
Women were often responsible for processing and preparing furs, an essential step before they could be traded. They helped to clean, dry, and stretch the pelts, making them market-ready.
Involvement in food production—such as hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants—helped sustain fur trading posts. They ensured that trading posts were stocked with dried meats, fish, and pemmican, which were key supplies in the fur trade, particularly in regions with harsh winters.
Explain the concept:
Hierarchies of meat and fish
Fur traders’ biased views reinforced harmful stereotypes about Indigenous communities in the Interior Plateau, especially those who relied on fishing. Traders often described fishing peoples as lazy and weak, while praising hunters as brave and hardworking—but still called them “savages” to fit their own ideas of who was “civilized.” These judgments weren’t based on reality but on colonial ideas about progress and cultural superiority.
For Indigenous peoples, though, fish was much more than just food—it was central to their health, strength, and community well-being. While traders dismissed fish-heavy diets as gross or lazy, communities like the Lower Nlaka’pamux saw fish as essential to survival and thriving. This shows the deep disconnect between colonial narratives, which tried to undermine Indigenous ways of life, and Indigenous perspectives, which highlight the value and sustainability of their traditional food systems.
Fur traders’ dislike of fish was tied to their British cultural biases and the hardships of life in the fur trade. In places like Kamloops, workers relied heavily on dried salmon, which they saw as boring and unpleasant, especially since fresh meat and vegetables usually went to the officers first. For the laborers, dried fish made up the bulk of their meals, and they complained about it constantly, even going on strike at one point.
But from an Indigenous perspective, fish wasn’t “poor stuff”—it was a vital, sustainable, and nutritious food source. The traders’ disdain for it shows how colonial attitudes dismissed the value of Indigenous food systems. Instead of recognizing how important and resourceful these diets were, they imposed their own ideas of what food should be, reinforcing their biases and overlooking the strengths of Indigenous ways of life.
