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Canadian Aboriginals and the Fur Trade
“It is irrefutable that contact and the fur trade set into motion processes that led to the loss of autonomy of the Indian societies. ... Companies were formed and monopoly charters granted by the French crown in an attempt to exclude foreigners from this lucrative trade. ... Through the change in social organization due to the introduction of trade goods and technology, forced assimilation and political modification, and the admittance of new diseases, Canada’s Aboriginal population was inflicted with injuries that are felt to this day.
Dependence on trade goods is commonly seen as a cause of the relatively rapid social degeneration. ... Though most trade was arms and ammunitions, Hudson Bay Company records also show a growing desire for cloth, iron and hatchets. The existence of trading posts led the bands to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle, both to control the trade and gain employment. ... Because the fur trade now dominated, hunts were shorter, but more deadly, which affected the number of animals in populated areas. ... In 1627, Cardinal Richelieu established the Company of One Hundred Associates, whose predominant aim was to control the fur trade, take out at least two hundred settlers a year for fifteen years, open up the land, and convert the Aboriginals to Christianity and cause them to adopt a civil mode of life. ... ”
While the French fur traders did recognize the necessity of the Aboriginals in facilitating trapping, evidence exists that settlers did not hold the same view, and that Aboriginals had no place in their world. ... The English when they came were not even fur traders, but soldiers, engaged in the task of “pacifying” the Indians, men entirely convinced that the Indians should be punished if they caused trouble.
Approximate Word count = 1447
Approximate Pages = 5.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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