Popular histories often marginalize First Nations women when discussing the fur trade. However, these women were quite significant and contributed a great deal to the vast and rapid development of colonial fur trading, playing a unique but important role in fur trade. Also, the fur trade itself changed the culture of First Nations women permanently and altered their role in their society.
European fur traders first came to Canada early in the 16th century, and by the 19th century their industry was in full swing, as in 1821, the Hudson Bay Company successfully won and merged with its biggest rival—Northwest Company (Carlos and Lewis). While Europeans at first simply came to North America to trade for furs, or hunt them themselves, and returned …show more content…
While Europeans had always made use of translators and traded with First Nations, having a First Nations wife gave them a special status when signing negotiation with the natives. When trading with the natives, language is always a huge challenge for the Europeans to get through, since the European traders mostly speak French and English while the natives speak Algonquian language, a gather of languages from different aboriginal tribes (for example, the Cree people speak Cree language); in this case, First Nations wife would also be a full-time translator and cultural mediator, facilitating the business transaction for their husbands. Without these women, negotiations would have been much more difficult for both sides and perhaps more violent conflicts would have arisen, because language problems may cause misunderstanding for both sides, so native wives can be peacemakers that solve conflicts between traders and aboriginal people. These aboriginal women act as communicators between her own tribe and traders, combining cultural elements from both the European and native side. Mixed-blood marriages help the traders form closer relationships and stronger social connections with the aboriginal people, which are mostly the First Nations wives’ relatives. Moreover, native wives would have also …show more content…
Before marrying with the Europeans, in their traditional culture, First nations women would have collaborated with other women in child rearing and other domestic duties, but locked into European-style marriages, much of this interaction was lost. Even their roles appear to be more important in society, native women slowly lose their autonomy as they used to have before. First Nations wives were also rarely treated well by their husbands, often being left behind if their husbands returned to Europe or found a white woman to marry. Without the demand in First Nations women in fur trade, these native wives and their mixed-blood children become weird existences and are marginalized by both native and European culture, and eventually these poor children formed a new race—Metis. Generally speaking, these aboriginal women were the victims of exploitation, because they are used when it was convenient and discarded when they became inconvenient.
In conclusion, aboriginal women play a negligible role in fur trade, promoting the trading development and relationships at a rapid speed; their interactions with Europeans bring new blood to their original native culture. However, these native wives are also victims of mixed-race marriages, suffering from various kinds of discriminations. The contributions brought by these great First Nations, especially the Cree women should be memorized by
European fur traders first came to Canada early in the 16th century, and by the 19th century their industry was in full swing, as in 1821, the Hudson Bay Company successfully won and merged with its biggest rival—Northwest Company (Carlos and Lewis). While Europeans at first simply came to North America to trade for furs, or hunt them themselves, and returned …show more content…
While Europeans had always made use of translators and traded with First Nations, having a First Nations wife gave them a special status when signing negotiation with the natives. When trading with the natives, language is always a huge challenge for the Europeans to get through, since the European traders mostly speak French and English while the natives speak Algonquian language, a gather of languages from different aboriginal tribes (for example, the Cree people speak Cree language); in this case, First Nations wife would also be a full-time translator and cultural mediator, facilitating the business transaction for their husbands. Without these women, negotiations would have been much more difficult for both sides and perhaps more violent conflicts would have arisen, because language problems may cause misunderstanding for both sides, so native wives can be peacemakers that solve conflicts between traders and aboriginal people. These aboriginal women act as communicators between her own tribe and traders, combining cultural elements from both the European and native side. Mixed-blood marriages help the traders form closer relationships and stronger social connections with the aboriginal people, which are mostly the First Nations wives’ relatives. Moreover, native wives would have also …show more content…
Before marrying with the Europeans, in their traditional culture, First nations women would have collaborated with other women in child rearing and other domestic duties, but locked into European-style marriages, much of this interaction was lost. Even their roles appear to be more important in society, native women slowly lose their autonomy as they used to have before. First Nations wives were also rarely treated well by their husbands, often being left behind if their husbands returned to Europe or found a white woman to marry. Without the demand in First Nations women in fur trade, these native wives and their mixed-blood children become weird existences and are marginalized by both native and European culture, and eventually these poor children formed a new race—Metis. Generally speaking, these aboriginal women were the victims of exploitation, because they are used when it was convenient and discarded when they became inconvenient.
In conclusion, aboriginal women play a negligible role in fur trade, promoting the trading development and relationships at a rapid speed; their interactions with Europeans bring new blood to their original native culture. However, these native wives are also victims of mixed-race marriages, suffering from various kinds of discriminations. The contributions brought by these great First Nations, especially the Cree women should be memorized by