Effects Of Fur Trade On Native Americans

The fur trade became one of the main economic projects in North America attracting competition among the French, British, Spanish, and Russian settlers. Many Native American societies across the continent came to depend on the fur trade as their primary source of income and needed it to pay the insanely high taxes being set on them by settlers in their own community. There was a lot of competition

Over time, the power that Native women held with in their tribe has unfortunately digressed. During the age of exploration Native women have played key roles in the western fur trade. Native women assisted the fur traders by being liaison between the Europeans and Natives. This role was fundamental in strengthening trade increasing the economic stability of the post. They acted as guides for the European traders who often found themselves in dangerous and unfamiliar territory. Finally, they provided an intimate relationship for the European traders, and played a pragmatic role as a domesticated wife. However in order to fully understand the magnitude of the

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

The fur trade was a significant part of Canadian history. With the founding of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Company during the1670's, the fur trade managed growth and development all the way into Western Canada until 1870. The fur trade was unique, for it was the only industry that was based on an exchange of goods between two very different groups of people (namely, the Indians and the Europeans). Although most people think of the fur trade as being a male dominated industry, Indian women also played very important roles in the industry's development. However, the women's experiences differed in relation to

Fur trade between the French and Indians began with the exchange of small items the Indians didn’t have, though it became an important trade source for all of Europe, especially by Samuel de Champlain

The first argument Faragher presents in Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie is the warring off of Native Americans with Anglo-Americans. The Kickapoo, an Indian tribe that settled in Sangamon Country, a county full of many resources that were vital for survival. The Kickapoo knew the land and hunting was their number one economic activity (Faragher 20). Fur trading became an important market between Native Americans and the

One extreme change for the Indians was the arrival of Anglo-Europeans. Native peoples’ lives were changed at the blink of an eye while new ideas, practices and beliefs were shown to them. The arrival of the Europeans changed the way the Indians viewed their world and manipulated their resources. This new change could be viewed as positive as well as negative, for while some tribes entered into trade relations with the Anglos, others were used as slave labor and all were subject to disease brought on by the European newcomers. However, despite all the advantages and disadvantages, no other introduction changed the lives of the Indians more than firearms and horses. West outlines one of the most important evolutions for Native life and how it represented a new way to harness resources and gain power. In just a few chapters, we are able to see the great advancements the Indians made in hunting and trade due to these new technologies and how they allowed the Cheyennes to rise to a new purpose as the Called Out People.

Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.

Fourth, colonialism and economic changes created much poverty among Indigenous peoples. The Europeans traded for profit; therefore, price markups of 300-400% were common at the trading posts (Pearson et al., 1972). It was difficult for First Nation peoples to afford these prices with the furs that they caught, and consequently, Indigenous communities were often poverty-stricken (Pearson et al., 1972). While the Hudson’s Bay Company grew richer, the Indigenous peoples grew poorer. Additionally, after 1820, the Industrial Revolution lessened the demand for fur. This, and the continued depletion of resources caused the fur trade to decline (Champagne, 2006). This decline had devastating effects on Indigenous peoples. Champagne (2006) declared that “many Native people and communities became impoverished as they could no longer trade for necessities” (p. 436). Evidently, the capitalist system of economic organization did not support Indigenous communities indefinitely, but rather, created poverty.

Native Americans lived on the North American continent centuries before the arrival of Europeans. These native groups developed and preserved cultural traditions. Many European explorers traveled to the New World around the 1500s in search for God, gold, and glory. This brought them into contact with the Native Americans, and led to a complete change in their lifestyle. Europeans brought the Natives diseases, forced them to relocate, and altered their cultures. All in all, the Europeans left a devastating impact on the Native Americans.

Images of rough faced, Grizzly Bear fighting, firewater drinking, yarn spinning, frontiersmen form in the minds eye. Wild men for wild times! To a degree this image is true, but the fur trade was more than wild men. The fur trade was a business, conducted by businessmen. The wilder men living on the frontier chose trapping. Fashion created the fur trade as businessmen sought to satisfy the tastes of designers and customers back east and in Europe, where furs and hides were necessities for fashionable clothing and accessories. Fashions also affected the Indians who sought, silver, vermillion, glass beads, and clothe from traders. Each group depended on the other to supply the resources.

Economics, religion, and politics shaped European and Native American contact in a positive way for the Europeans, and a negative way for the Native Americans. The Europeans brought materials such as horses and wheat, which the Native Americans used and circulated into their economy. The Europeans got grains and maize in return. Diseases brought by the Europeans killed up to 90% of Native Americans, which brought trade and other economic activities down. Before the Native Americans met with the Europeans they only believed in animism and spirits as their religion, after the Europeans came, they tried to convert the Native Americans by force. Many Christian leaders such as Pope Paul III rejected the harsh treatment of Native Americans, but still supported the conversion of them en masse. Christianity in the Americas developed into a mix of Christianity and animism, in Europe people solely believed in Jesus as their lord.

Throughout history, Native Americans have been known for their ability to use the Earth’s natural resources to their full extent, using any and everything that they are able to get their hands on. For example, in the book Self-Determination: The Other Path of Native Americans, authors Ann M. Carlos and Frank D. Lewis examines the beginnings of what appears to be a budding entrepreneurial like “business” within the Cree Tribe. By the late 17th century, the Cree along with other Native American tribes were apart of the fur trade. They were hunting animals, preparing the pelts, and transporting them to the Hudson Bay Company in exchange for property rights, and European goods. Unfortunately though, Native Americans never even had a chance to be a part of the blossoming United States economic system because with the western expansion of the early United States came regulatory acts for Native American tribes to reservations. Not only was poverty on the rise along with loss of hope, many Native Americans felt their way of life and everything that they have ever known being ripped away from them, and couldn’t do anything about it. Ever since Native Americans were confined to their reservations, and were left trying to begin again with the new way of life that had been forced upon them, many lost the opportunities of wealth and success that the growing nation had to

The process of assimilation, as it regards to the Native Americans, into European American society took a dreaded and long nearly 300 years. Initially, when the European’s came to the hopeful and promising land of the “New World”, they had no desire or reason anything but minimal contact with the Indians. However, starting in the 1700s the European colonists population skyrocketed. The need for more resources became evident and the colonists knew they could attain these necessities by creating a relationship of mutual benefit with the Native tribes. The Indians, at first skeptical, however became growingly open to the colonists and the relationship they were looking to attain. Indian furs were traded for colonial goods and military

It is clear from the abstract of the article that Native women played an important role in evolving the fur trade as well as women’s involvement expanded. The author beings by setting a frame of reference, referring to Richard White’s interpretation of the evolution of fur trade, which he labeled the “middle ground”. Which provided a good basis for Sleeper-Smith to integrate her stance of how the native women influenced the evolution of fur trade in their role as cultural mediators. The term “cultural mediators” is seldom used, despite it being mentioned as part of the abstract. However, “mediators” on its own is used throughout the article to describe to role and influence of native women. In regards to the use of “cultural mediators” at the