What Role Did Women Play In The Fur Trade

Women had an immense impact on the years of fur trading. Especially Native or Mixed Blood women because these are the ones that most men in the fur trade married. Benefits came along with marrying these women; fur traders had the inside scoop and strong ties with her Native family. The improvement of relationships was built with marriage but also information about their culture and language. Women coming from a strong culture like Natives bring along skills to improve and help the fur traders. Like how the women could set up camp off of the settlement, prepare the furs to be traded, make leather to make more of a profit, cook meals with the surrounding goods that not necessarily a white wife could make. First Nations women were built to work;

they could do a bunch of the things men couldn’t do. Gathering firewood was a small but helpful task, made moccasins which could keep then men’s feet warm in the winter and also something different from their everyday shoes and plenty more other tasks that could improve the fur trader’s daily life.
The Hudson’s Bay Company had their own thoughts about the marriages in the fur trade. They had the thought in their minds that the wives and children would bring an even bigger expense. So with this the company first made it that women couldn’t come to the forts and men were not allowed to marry. But the statement did not last very long because most of the people inside the company already had wives. With the company not wanting the men to marry this left the other women who were not married to feel as if they weren’t good enough and felt completely ignored. After a while the company began to realize what the men marrying the women could draw to the company and trade and started to let women come around and test things out. Starting around this time the traditional weddings and ceremonies were built just like today’s weddings with marriage contracts and vows with witnesses. This was very special to the women because it made it feel real for once. On the Hudson Bay’s journeys they would often go by canoes and later boats most of the paddlers where men but the odd time some women would lend a hand. There was hardly ever a time when the women didn’t come aboard the ships to the trading posts. The women on travel knew the ways that were dangerous, kept the men off fast harsh rapid routes.
The idea of marriages in the North West Company was definitely different from the HBC. Marriage was a privilege to those who are in the company. All other ranks were allowed to marry, when married they renewed their contracts to stay with their family. For the company if people if the men wanted to marry they would have to stay working with the company. But the higher employees had to ask for permission from their boss to get married and were hardly ever denied. With all these marriages and the fact the company paid for the clothes and the feeding of the employee’s family it was a high expense when competition with the HBC was in full gear. So the company made a new policy saying that: NWC employees are not allowed to marry Native women. They would have to marry Mix-blood women, who were being supported by the company already. When the company needed to make alliances with new tribes there were exceptions. With this an assortment of women were just used but it helped the company cut down on expenses and built stronger relationships with the women. They did pass their traditions and language onto the fur traders. The women made sure to teach the men the skills of survival in the harsh climates. They had the ability and knowledge to know how to make a creation that would help heal injuries for the men. This would be important because no one else would have a clue on even how to begin to make a medicine like that or treat the people. With these marriages and relationships with the First Nations people they would maintain the dominance in the fur trade.
When it was about time for the men to retire from the company, there were some tricky decisions to be made. Many men couldn’t decide where they wanted to go taking his marriage into mind. Some men wanted the benefits of life to remain with their families. Others returned to Canada and the United Kingdom. For the women moving to these such places it would have been a hard task to get used to the civilization but the men took the risk and took them because of the love that was built between them. But many women were left behind in the fur country, with a marriage that would be arranged for them to be married again to an active fur trader. Some women were just forgotten or took the chance to get out and away to find somewhere else.
When the companies were off to spend the winters somewhere off the settlement like the Cumberland House they requested that two or three Native Women to come along and stay with them. They needed them to do tasks that couldn’t be done by men; they were incredibly useful when coming along the trips. These women would be able to make shoes for the men to keep their feet when heading out to do something like trade. The men carved the frame out and put it together while the women made the actual shoe part of the snowshoe. Cutting line and netting snowshoes was a couple of the things men couldn’t live without. These shoes did wonders for the men in tracking through the snow it increased their pace. When the men brought back the furs to the post the women would be there to prepare and stretch those furs to make them exceptionally ready to be traded. The men’s work on furs was not near as great quality compared to the women’s way of doing it. With the company bringing these women along it really made the women feel like they were needed and without them they would be lost and they knew that too. When the council of the company saw how great the women really were towards the fur trading post he knew that those women needed more encouragement, credit, and honours for the work that they prove. Because if there was a load of furs that came in, in terrible condition those women right away knew what they were going to do to make those furs look in fine shape. This really helped the company out because with the nice work on the furs they were getting a better profit from the furs with the fine work put into those furs.
These women were a part of the daily operations. In Alexander Mackenzie’s note he wrote that “there was not a single fort that there wasn’t a woman who couldn’t make snowshoes”. This statement shows just how many talented women there were in the fur trade. In the winter the women sewed bags together to hold pemmican that was light and didn’t spoil on the men’s journeys, they made the bags from buffalo furs to make something else useful out of furs and that would hold the pemmican. Pemmican making was done all year round to keep the men alive; every single step in making that food was done by the women. They made sure the pemmican was high in protein calorie high to fuel the voyageurs and keep them going. With the Vitamin C in the pemmican this was essential to the people because it was a way to scare off scurvy that is very destructive. Even though the men put together the boats where do you think all the materials and supplies came from? Obviously the women; they went out and collected the spruce roots and pine or spruce resin and prepared them ready.
When spring comes along there is plenty more tasks for the life of the women. Maples trees would produce juices for the women to collect and make maple sugar. When the soil was ready to be worked they would put together their own little garden. In the gardens they would prepare the ground so they could sow potatoes, corn, and many other garden foods. When the rivers cleared with ice the furs would be traded and travelled by river. The men travelled by canoes and there was often a woman or two on board. They would act as, passengers because the journeys could be long and the men would be bored to death, guides if they knew the area that they were in, and sometimes even working the paddles. When away from the forts the women would put up the tents which was more effective when there was no men involved, fix any moccasins that needed some work or any that needed made, they also gathered berried and firewood. A couple women really knew how to make a fire, this was important to keep warm but also to keep the mosquitoes away from eating them to death. Another item that the women knew how to make was fishing nets. This came in handy in the spring and through the summer for catching fish to survive and have a different food in their diet. For the women who stayed home they were often in charge of the kids and supported the family from there.
A First Nations women coming into the fur trade life they got to experience many new things like the clothes they got to wear. Their everyday outfit was usually something around a dress that went below the knees. Maybe a belt to show off their figure. Hair was always done nicely but not too fancy. Usually up in a ponytail with it braided back to look like a crown. They never really did wear anything too revealing. They got a cloak to wear if it did start to get cool. They could wear bracelets, rings, and earrings if there was a special occasion or to be a little fancy for once. When they came from outside of the settlement they were asked to wear something similar to what everyone else was wearing to be appropriate and fair. I don’t think many women minded this as they felt a part of the community and represented it. It was different from what they use to wear and for some that meant a lot because maybe their past life wasn’t the greatest and this is something little to help forget. But women also had the option to make some of their own clothes. This might have made them feel a little more at home with style of making some of their own clothes.
The marriages between fur traders and First Nations women had values to many surrounding people. For the women marrying into the fur trade they might have had the opportunity to learn a new language but still have her language so she could communicate with her people. A chance at a better life and to start over from the past, figure out who they are and find someone to make them happy and to start a family with. Be surrounded by a community who supports them and has their backs in time of need. And to have those little things that they have always dreamed of, a normal better life. Families are built out of these relationships to make the company stronger and make the family happy. Strength is always put to the test with building a family. A lot of work and dedication is put into the things that we love and care for to make the men and women even stronger. Fur traders have the advantage of having a guide who knows the land where he might not or the fact that she can speak to her people when he can’t. The women’s knowledge of finding and preparing food was extremely helpful for the husbands and the many skills that she would have of the outdoor life to help them make it through. The women did a lot of the little dirty work that men could have done but chose not to or they just couldn’t do it. The fur trading company benefitted from the first nations women with the in to their people. They made sure the companies men were prepared to survive in the wilderness. The women would act as peace makers for the company among her people and the fur traders if there was some misunderstanding going on. This was important to the company because of the fact that with fighting going on trading would be slow and the company wouldn’t be making a big profit off of them which the company wouldn’t want. They would make strong alliances and closer relationships with the traders giving them advantages in the fur trade. The company would have a strong relationship with the First Nation’s people.
Thanadelthur is a name that comes to mind in history when thinking about the fur trade.

She had a lot of courage and powerful tongue to persuade people. The Hudson Bay Company wanted her to go make peace between the two groups who were the Chipewyan and the Cree that were fighting. With this the fur trade was slowing down and the company were not making very high profit which didn’t make them too pleased. They sent her to go make her magic to resolve the fighting between the groups. Thanadelthur did not give up, she had a goal and she was going to achieve it because those were her people and resolving this would make her feel a whole lot better. She got through the problems with the Cree and Chipewyan and was able to get the fur trade back up and running for the company. She earned her respect from the British fur traders. And without her going to make peace maybe the company wouldn’t have been so

successful.
For most of the women this was the life they loved and would never give it up. They got treated by the right man who cares and adores for her and would be together forever. They were a bundle of happy women in the fur trade. Some were just in it because they didn’t like their old life and wanted a change to be happy for once. The men saw these marriages as a commitment for life, but other saw it was either one of them could leave anytime they wanted they were in it for the benefits even though there was a little bit of happiness there. A group of men thought of the women to be the ones that they were just sleeping with to satisfy their needs and treated them unpleasantly.
Without the women a lot of the fur trading’s success wouldn’t have happen without these women with the skills they had to make it better quality.

They had a sufficient amount of information about the life at the posts and trading. With the men being with these women they got to experience and learn the many skills and talents. Everyone couldn’t believe at how talented these women were and the kind of stuff they brought to the table was more then they needed. They took the role of keeping the men alive. The credit they got was not near enough that they deserved for all their hard work and dedication. Those men sure should have been thankful for helping them through tasks and helping them survive. The little key things from the women added to the great accomplishment of the fur

trade.