lecture 15: fur trade expands west

what points towards the key issue in fur trade (1600-1700s)? explain.

french-english competition

• the french were working from the interior so they could intercept and appropriate fur shipments for themselves, in the early period it was the coureur de bois working the pays en haut but over time and with the british conquest they became organized into companies like the northwest company

we have noted that after the fall of the Wendake in 1649 the french canadian coureur de bois…

move into the pays en haut as independent traders, living among the first nations and marrying into them

HBC began its operations…

sitting around hudsons bay in 1670

the french traders are much better positioned…

to collect the furs and continue to expand rapidly westward and north

over the years they (the independent traders) formed various partnerships and companies but after…

1759 began to form into an overarching company and in 1779 consolidated into the northwest company

what year did the northwest company form?

1779

how was the northwest company different from HBC?

in that it (NWC) was made up of a large number of shareholders and “wintering” partners, each one of which was the local trappers - who met annually at fort william

what were the 5 advantages/pros of the french-english competition?

1. the competition led to higher fur prices and lower prices for goods

2. led to better quality goods being traded

3. if the First Nations trapper did not like the price at one company’s post they could simply go to the other

4. the posts were built fairly close together so trappers could go from one to the other

5. poor communication between posts within one company and between companies meant that trappers could incur debt at one post, then trade their spring catch at another post and never pay off their debt

what were the 4 disadvantages/cons of the french-english competition?

1. refinement of the debt system - to keep the traders coming back the companies (especially HBC) would advance supplies to the trappers in fall (to create debt) and then the trappers were expected to pay it back by the spring (if it were a poor year for trapping they couldn’t pay it off - trapped in an ongoing/permanent cycle of debt)

2. use of alcohol (hooch) to lubricate the trade, leading to violence

3. expansion of companies onto the land meant that more europeans were living on the Indigenous lands with no recognition of Indigenous rights in the lands

4. abuse of Indigenous women by traders

word on trade routes: (3)

• rapid expansion into the interior up the Mackenzie valley and even across into BC meant the extension of supply lines over long distances

• this meant that the supply brigades (montreal to fort william, william to point west, york factory to point west, etc.) had to move very quickly and couldn’t stop to hunt

• this led to the use of pemmican!

pemmican:

dried buffalo meat with fat and berries - as major fast food source for canoe/trade supply brigades

competition grew so intense it led to… (3)

• violence

• declining profits for both companies

• forced merger in 1821

1821 is significant how?

it is when HBC became a monopoly; aka when the forced NWC and HBC merger occurred

at the time of the merger, how many posts did each company have?

• NWC = 97 posts

• HBC = 76

as a result of the merger, HBC did what?

noted a huge amount of redundancy in the system, so they closed many posts and laid off the employees - reducing the total posts to 52

as a result of HBCs major layoffs…

many of the laid off persons moved to the red river settlement where they became buffalo hunters supplying the pemmican trade and or became small scale farmers

4 impacts on the First Nations as a result of the merger:

1. HBC monopoly meant that First Nations faced fixed and high prices

2. could no longer bargain between the 2 companies, however, inter-post communication was still poor so they could take their debt at one and continue to trade furs at another

3. the intense competition had led to the devastation of the wildlife and lower fur returns

4. many First Nations were laid off from their jobs surrounding the posts, but more importantly huge numbers of Metis were laid off meaning there were suddenly more people seeking to make a living off of the land

how did the Métis emerge? (2)

• they emerged out of liaisons between french-canadian men and Indigenous women (usually Anishinaabe) - men had moved out to live on the land and marry the women to create alliances but also to receive the skills and support of Indigenous women

• also emerged out of the Scots/Orkney men working for the HBC and Indigenous women (usually Cree)

within a couple generations, Metis men and women are…

marrying each other and forming a distinct population - some skewing because Metis men associated with the HBC are often sent back to Scotland for education and merge with Scots and some french Metis men went to montreal for their education (ex: Riel) leaving their women in the Indigenous communities and thus providing a matri-emphasis in Metis descent

who was largely the labour force of the fur trade?

the Metis - provided the labour around the forts and most especially ran the canoe brigades - women did hide and fur preparation and provided clothing for posts

the Metis were well enough organized to push for…

higher wages with work slowdowns

could Metis persons become officers of the HBC?

no… they were prohibited by racist HBC rules from rising into the ranks of officers of the company

end of the 18th century Metis context: (2)

• large settlement of Metis had emerged in Sault Ste. Marie by the end of the 18th century and was beginning to move westward into the red river valley

• with the layoffs at the merger of HBC and NWC these are the people who settled into the red river and took up buffalo hunting and supplying the fur trade with pemmican

laws of the buffalo hunt: (10)

• created in 1840 by the Metis

1. no buffalo to be run on the sabbath-day

2. no party to fork off, lag behind or go before without permission

3. no person or party to run buffalo before the general order

4. every captain with his men, in turn to patrol the camp and keep guard

5. for the first trespass against these laws the offender to have his saddle and bridle cut up

6. for the second offence the coat to be taken off the offender’s back and be cut up

7. for the third offence the offender to be flogged

8. any person convicted of theft, even to the value of a sinew, to be brought to the middle of their camp and the crier to call out his/her name thrice adding the word thief each time

• these laws were to evolve into the system of self government for the Metis communities

Kanien’keha:ka (3)

• 3 communities of Kahnawake, Kanesatake, and Akwesasne near the NWC (later HBC) depot at Lachine outside montreal - they’d form the canoe brigades operating west to ft william and beyond - also taking up trapping for themselves

• between 1800-1804, 300 would move westward into the fur country - staying and forming communities as far west as the rocky mountains

• highly efficient trappers and accused of trapping out the areas where they settled