Aboriginals and the Fur Trade - Essay Example

?Aboriginals and the Fur Trade 22.11 Introduction: The Canadian aboriginals were the native Indians living in North America and mostly involved in the fur trade with the Europeans. Before the aboriginals began trading with the Europeans in the 17th and 18th century, they had their own cultural system which was interfered with by the Europeans who invaded their territory. After mixing with the invaders an indigenous culture was created. The Canadian aboriginals survived mostly on the fur trade with the Europeans that enabled them to get iron tools like knives to facilitate hunting and household activities. The ‘made beaver’ was the principal used by the aboriginals in trading since they preferred to bargain over prices. Fur trade in Canada led to the establishment of the oldest industry, Hudson Bay industry, as well as economic exploration of Canada which, in a way, exposed the aboriginal’s way of life to the rest of the civilized world. Some interesting accounts have been written about the history of the aboriginals before 1900 which revolve around their way of life, culture, and even administration. Hearn Samuel, in his journey from Wales in Hudson’s bay to the Northern Ocean in search of copper, accompanies us throughout the journey concerning life of the aboriginals in 1769-1774. Samuel Hearne, born in 1745 and died in 1792, was an explorer and a naturalist. He undertook three journeys in search of copper and a North West passage. In 1969, his guides were aboriginal Indian home-guards. This journey through the Indians’ land with the participation of Indians as guides highlights some aspects of the Indians way of life. Aspects of Indians way of life: Hearn’s journey in the 18th century taught him a lot about adaptation. He had to adapt to the Indians way of life during his journeys in an experiential way. He learnt that travel was only possible by following buffalo’s migration routes and habits since they were the only source of food available. Hearn’s expedition takes us through various aspects of the aboriginal Indians life in North America, describing how they survived with their rudimentary knowledge and technology. The aboriginal Indians could learn the behavior of animals, for example, migration, and this enabled them to travel without fasting since they hunted animals like buffaloes, caribou and musk-oxen. Lack of fire made the aboriginal Indians' eating raw musk-oxen a habit, also adopted by Samuel Hearn in order to survive during the snow period when making fire was impossible.1 The Indians small canoes could only be used to cross rivers. This made them (and Hearn too) walk for long distances during their traveling. The Indians were very much used to such exercises. During the third journey when they found copper in July 1771, the Indians who were eager to join their waiting wives turned back. They increased their pace, and this made Herne, who was not accustomed to walking such long distances on foot, lose his toe nails. This is one amazing aspect of life that can be found among the aboriginal Indians: they were used to walking long distances and in harsh conditions. The aboriginal Indians who were traders in fur could undertake such juorneys in order to exchange their wares with others, and they had learnt the seasonal movements of animals which were their sources of food when traveling.2 The aboriginals' ability to survive inland, as highlighted by Hearn, was due to their knowledge of seasonal animal migrations, use of furs as clothing and their ability to withstand harsh conditions, for instance, fasting a lot or eating raw meat. The aboriginals' rudimentary technology and lack of canoes made trade impossible inland3. This made Samuel Hearn advise the London committee to introduce more posts, which were to involve the natives in an extended usage of canoes in order to be able to advance trade inland. The aboriginal Indians were very vital for the success of trade in Europe. Trade had suffered a lot in September 1873 after the arrest of Hearn. The reason for this negative situation was the fact that the Indian population had highly reduced because of chicken pox and starvation from lack of hunting appliances like powder and shot. This means the Europeans and the Indians depended on each other. The Indians depended on the Europeans' supplies of powder for hunting, while the Europeans depended on the Indians' buying their products. The fact that the Indian population had been reduced by chicken pox shows that in the 18th century the aboriginals did not have the proper medication to curb such diseases, which could be prevented through vaccination. It also pinpoints the aboriginals’ limited technology since they could not make their own powder for hunting and could even starve to death when their daily supply was cut, as it happened after Hearn's arrest. Samuel Hearn's history shows how the Europeans adopted the commercial culture of the aboriginals. In this case, they had to follow the ‘made beaver’ standard set by the Indians instead of the normal official European mode of exchange. The Europeans, like Hearn, also adapted the way of life of the Indians in order to survive the journey through the Indian land. The Indians, on the other hand, adopted the European iron tools for hunting, as well as ammunition. Hearn describes the behavior of the Indians towards their women. A sick woman would be left behind to die. There is an instance when they come across a lone woman who had been alone for seven months without seeing a human being, and men in Hearn’s group fight for her. Women and the old people were treated inhumanly or as inferiors. From the point of view of modern approach, this description can be questioned and its true nature doubted. The aboriginal Indians in the 18th century lacked technology, but they were very creative, as shown in Hearn’s story. He says he was surprised by how the Indians could preserve meat without the use of salt, as it was common in Europe. They were also skilled in the way of animals and could even predict their movements. Historians noted that the aboriginals were the main source of fur for Europe and America. Their artwork was very original; they knew and employed paints which are adopted in contemporary European painting. Their ability to make drawings on tree barks is also amazing, together with their ability to boil meat on vessels made from the rind of the birch tree.4 The behavior of the aboriginals, especially the Northern Indians who were very good at fraud and sold their furs more expensively than any other Indian community, may look weird. However, this is not so because their economic behavior adjusted to the market-oriented, profit-driven Europeans. The ability of Cree and Assiniboine tribes to adapt ecologically to various habitats enabled them to incorporate various ideas, methods and technology. This made them adapt to various changing economical systems well. This ability gave them an advantage over the superior Europeans, taking full control of the inland York factory trade.5 Conclusion: Fur was very vital before 1840 when silk came into place to replace fur. It was mainly consumed by European countries until they discovered a new source in North America. The aboriginal Indians were actively involved in the fur trade, and as much as they lacked the technology of the Europeans, they matched the Europeans in business acumen and to some extent even outdid them. They sometimes asserted their economic power in exploiting vulnerable points of European policies. Therefore, although the aborigines are looked at as backward and inferior, they have their superiority too. When exposed to the same terms and conditions as other nations, they are equally productive and competitive. Bibliography Carter, Sarah, 1999. “Aboriginal fur-trade”. Reprinted with permission from The University of Toronto Press: 50-54. Hearn, Samuel, 2000. “Dictionary of Canadian biography online”. University of Toronto/Universite Laval. (1771-1800): 4. Hearne, Samuel (1795). “A journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the northern ocean: Undertaken by order of the Hudson's Bay Company for the discovery of copper mines, a north west passage”. London. Read More