Grade by Grade
A. Heritage and Identity · Interactions of Indigenous Peoples and Europeans prior to 1713

The Fur Trade: Partners in Trade

A3.5 A1.2 A1.1About 45 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe how the fur trade worked between First Nations and the French.
  • I can explain why the French needed First Nations partners and their knowledge.
  • I can explain how trade was tied to alliances.
  • I can describe who benefited from the fur trade, and how.

Words to know

fur trade
Trading animal furs, mostly beaver, for European goods.
trading partner
A person or nation you trade with again and again, who you can trust.
middleman
A trader who buys from one group and sells to another. The Wendat were middlemen in the fur trade.
coureur de bois
French for "runner of the woods": a young Frenchman who travelled into First Nations lands to trade, often without permission.
interpreter
A person who helps people who speak different languages understand each other.
protocol
The proper, respectful way of doing something, like the gift-giving and speeches that came before trading.
benefit
Something good or useful that a person or group gets.

Let's start with a question

In the 1600s, a fashionable gentleman in Paris wore a tall, smooth felt hat. Where did it come from?

Very likely, from a beaver trapped by an Innu, Algonquin or Wendat hunter, traded at Tadoussac or Québec, carried across the ocean on a ship, and made into felt in France. A hat connected people across thousands of kilometres!

A beaver swims in a pond in front of its large lodge made of sticks and mud.
Notice the beaver's thick, warm fur. In Europe, beaver fur was made into felt for fashionable hats, so beaver pelts became the most important good in the fur trade. AI-generated image
beaver fur(First Nationshunters)canoe toTadoussac orQuébecship acrossthe oceanmade intofelt inFrancehat fora gentlemanin Parisone hat, thousands of kilometres
The journey of a beaver felt hat in the 1600s. Every step depended on people working together across thousands of kilometres.

How the fur trade worked

  • First Nations hunters and trappers prepared beaver furs. Worn beaver robes were especially valued, because wearing them made the fur softer and ready for hat-making.
  • First Nations traders brought the furs by canoe to trading places. Tadoussac, where the Saguenay River meets the St. Lawrence, was an Innu gathering place where the French traded from about 1600. Later, Québec, Trois-Rivières and Montréal became trade centres too.
  • In exchange, they got European goods, such as copper and iron kettles, iron axes and knives, awls and needles, cloth and blankets, and glass beads.
  • French ships carried the furs to France.
First Nationstraders gaveFrenchtraders gavebeaver fursfood, corncanoes, snowshoesguides, knowledgemetal kettlesaxes, knivescloth, blanketsglass beadstrade
What each side gave in the fur trade. Both sides wanted what the other had.

Why the French needed First Nations partners

The French could not run the fur trade alone.

  • First Nations knew where the beavers were, and how to trap and prepare furs.
  • They knew the rivers, portages and seasons.
  • They built the birchbark canoes and snowshoes that made travel possible.
  • They shared food (like corn) and knowledge of how to survive the winter.
  • They had their own trading networks, reaching far inland.

French traders had to follow First Nations protocols. A trade began with speeches, feasts and gifts, just as it did between nations before Europeans came. Trade was a sign of friendship and alliance.

Trade and alliances

In 1609 Champlain agreed to fight with his trading partners, the Wendat, Algonquin and Innu, against the Mohawk (one of the Haudenosaunee nations). Being a good ally was part of being a good trading partner.

The Wendat became important middlemen. They gathered furs from nations to the north and west, often in exchange for their corn, and brought them to the French. Around the 1630s, hundreds of Wendat traders travelled each year to French posts on the St. Lawrence.

Some young Frenchmen went to live with their partners to learn languages and become interpreters. Étienne Brûlé lived among the Wendat for years. Later, many coureurs de bois travelled inland to trade.

GroupHow they benefitedWhat it cost or risked
First Nations tradersUseful metal tools and cloth; new allies; Wendat middlemen gained wealth and influenceLong, hard canoe trips; more competition between nations; (next lesson: disease and conflict)
French merchants and companiesBig profits selling furs in EuropeShips could be lost; they depended on First Nations partners
The King of FranceClaims to land, and allies against rivalsHad to protect the colony
Hat makers and buyers in EuropeFine beaver felt hatsVery little
Who benefited from the fur trade? Different groups gained different things.
Worked example

Let's think like historians: who benefited?

A copper kettle could be traded for beaver furs. How did each side benefit?

  1. Think about the First Nations side. Before metal kettles, people cooked in pots of clay, wood or bark. A copper kettle can hang over a fire, does not break if dropped, and lasts a long time. Old kettles could even be cut up to make arrowheads or tools.
  2. Think about the French side. Kettles were not hard to get in France. Beaver fur sold for a high price in Europe.
  3. So each side gave something that was ordinary to them and got something that was valuable to them.

Both sides benefited: First Nations traders got long-lasting, useful tools, and French traders made a big profit on furs. That is why trade kept growing.

Fair partners?

The early fur trade was a partnership. First Nations traders bargained hard, chose their partners and set many of the rules. It was not a case of Europeans simply giving "trinkets".

Just for fun

What did the hat say to the scarf?

"You hang around here. I'll go on ahead!"

Hands-on activity

Trading game: what is it worth to you?

You need: two players, and some small things from home to be "trade goods" (for example: a spoon, a pencil, a sock, a cracker, a paper clip).

  1. Each player secretly writes a list of what they need for an imaginary winter trip.
  2. Split the goods between the players.
  3. Take turns offering trades. Before each trade, follow a protocol: say one kind thing to your partner and give a small "gift" (a compliment counts!).
  4. Stop when you both have what you need.

Talk about it: Did you value the same items in the same way? Why might a kettle be worth more to one person and beaver fur to another?

Your turn

1

What was the main fur traded, and what was it used for in Europe?

2

Name three European goods First Nations traders got.

3

Give two kinds of knowledge the French needed from First Nations.

4

What was Tadoussac?

5

What is a middleman? Which nation was an important middleman?

6

Why did Champlain fight alongside the Wendat, Algonquin and Innu in 1609?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does "coureur de bois" mean?

2

What did people use to carry furs along rivers?

3

What is an interpreter?

4

Who lived among the Wendat for years and learned their language?

5

What usually happened before trading began?

More practice: on your own

1

Why was a copper kettle so useful to First Nations families?

2

Why were the French not able to run the fur trade alone?

3

How was trade connected to alliances?

4

Give one way French merchants benefited and one risk they faced.

5

Why is calling trade goods "trinkets" unfair?

Challenge

1

The Wendat traded their corn to northern nations for furs, then traded furs to the French. Explain why this made them powerful.

2

Use evidence to decide: was the early fur trade a partnership? Give one reason for and one possible reason against.

3

Why do you think the French wanted interpreters like Étienne Brûlé to live with their partners?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What was beaver fur mostly used for in Europe?

2.

Which was a European trade good?

3.

Which nation became important middlemen in the fur trade?

4.

Why did the French need First Nations partners?

5.

What was a trading protocol?

6.

In the early fur trade, who benefited?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: The early fur trade was a partnership in which First Nations knowledge, routes and protocols were essential, and both sides benefited in different ways (A3.5, A1.2). The costs (disease, conflict) come in the next lessons (A1.1).

How to help at home:

  • Play the trading game; ask why the same thing can be worth more to one person than another.
  • Look at pictures of a birchbark canoe and a copper trade kettle on a museum website (for example, the Canadian Museum of History) with your child.
  • Ask: "Who needed whom?"

Common difficulties:

  • Thinking First Nations were tricked into trading for "trinkets": evidence shows they bargained, chose partners and valued useful goods.
  • Forgetting the alliance side: trade, friendship and military alliance went together.
  • Thinking the fur trade was only good: the next lessons cover serious harms. Keep both in mind.