History Fur Trade

1254 Words6 Pages
North America was originally the home to many Native peoples that strived to live through the seasons without technology or wealth. They depended on the environment, wildlife and cooperation as a tribe. The Indians travelled together in tribes and made a living by hunting, trapping, gathering and trading. Before the Europeans entered North America, the Indians traded with other tribes and used homemade tools from bones and rocks. Ramsay Cook’s article, “The Social and Economic Frontier in North America” provides evidence of the first relationships and trade between the Natives and the first Europeans to arrive in North America. Similarly, Cornelius J. Jaenen’s reading, “Amerindian Views of the French Culture in the Seventeenth Century” has argumentative information about the relationships the Indians and Europeans formed, based on their trading goods. Also, this essay acknowledges Bruce G. Trigger’s ideas from his article, “The French Presence in Huronia: The Structure of Franco-Huron Relations in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century” about the negative turn in relationships between the Indians and Europeans during the fur-trade. The fur trade played a significant role in determining the dynamics of the relationship between the Indians and Europeans. The relationship was positive at the beginning of the Native-European contact because of their reliance on each other for trade goods but in turn, negative consequences of Native-European contact arose during the fur trade which resulted in the relationships becoming weakened and problematic. It is evident that Indian tribes and way of life changed significantly because of contact with Europeans, both positively and negatively. Ramsay Cook described the beginning of the European settlement in North America, “The Amerindians initial contact with European economic organization came through the fur trade. At least in
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