Fur Trade Category 1
True or False. Native American women were not important to the fur trade.
False. Native American women played very important roles in the fur trade, including preparing furs for trade and repairing canoes.
True or False. Europeans valued felt hats as a symbol of social status.
True
True or False. Most furs were transported by horse.
False. Most furs were transported up and down rivers by boat or canoe.
In the summer, traders, clerks, voyageurs, and some Native Americans met where to exchange goods and furs.
From what we read in chapter 5, traders and their companions met for a rendezvous at Grand Portage.
A wealthy man who was usually in charge of one or more trading posts.
Trader
The workman of the fur trade who carried and canoed furs from interior posts to trade centers.
Voyageur
The ordinary man who usually managed the day-to-day business of a trading post.
Clerk
Hunted and trapped animals for furs to trade.
Native American men
Often repaired canoes and collected sugar to trade.
Native American women
Why were beaver hats so popular in Europe from 1550 to 1850?
The finest and most expensive hats were made of beaver fur, so they were a symbol of wealth, social status, and power. Beaver hats were also soft, durable, and stood up to wind, rain, and rough handling.
Why did voyageurs first come to Minnesota?
Voyageurs came to MN looking for fame and fortune. They thought they would be wealthy.
Why did missionaries first come to Minnesota?
Missionaries wanted Native Americans to give up their religions in favor of Christianity.
Describe the role Native American men played in turning an animal skin into a fur hat.
Native American men trapped fur-bearing animals and traded the pelts with European fur traders.
Describe the role Native American women played in turning an animal skin into a fur hat.
Native American women cleaned and prepared fur pelts for trade with European fur traders.
Describe the term "portage".
To portage means to carry over land from one stretch of water to another.
Describe the term "rendezvous".
A rendezvous is an annual summer meeting of traders, clerks, voyaguers, and Native American groups.
Describe services or goods (other than trading furs) Europeans got from Native American groups as part of the fur trade.
Native Americans taught Europeans how to make birchbark canoes. They shared wild rice and maple sugar. They also provided services as interpreters and guides.
What types of items did traders bring with them to exchange with the Ojibwe or Dakota for furs?
Trade items included woven blankets, glass beads, metal pots, metal animal traps, mirrors, dyes, ax heads, and guns.
In which season are canoes repaired, final trades are done with Ojibwe or Dakota, furs are packed in bundles and then loaded into canoes heading east to Grand Portage and Fort William.
Spring
In which season are voyageurs and traders getting supplies, fixing their dwellings and posts as the Ojibwe and Dakota begin coming to fur posts to trade often getting the European trade goods on credit.
Autumn