Skip to main content

Indigenous Economies and the Fur Trade Study Guide

This guide explores the historical economic systems of Indigenous peoples in Canada, focusing on the profound impact of the European fur trade. It details the shift from subsistence living to market-oriented practices, the rise of economic specialization among different Indigenous groups, and the unique barter system, including the 'made beaver' standard. The guide also covers essential elements like pemmican production, the geopolitical dynamics between European powers and Indigenous traders, a

Save this study guide to your study set

Sign up free

Your learning path

Historical Overview of Indigenous and Colonial Economies

Historical Overview of Indigenous Economies

An examination of path dependency, Indigenous economic diversity, and the impact of European mercantilism and colonial expansion on First Nations, Metis, and Inuit societies.

  • Path dependency
  • Extractive institutions
  • Inclusive institutions
  • Indigenous economies
  • Pre-contact treaty making
  • Trade and specialization
  • Infectious disease impact
  • Mercantilism
  • European colonial expansion
  • Hudson's Bay Company
  • Doctrine of Discovery
  • Terra nullius
  • Staple goods

Chronological Timeline of Years

The Fur Trade and Indigenous Economies

Indigenous Economies and the Fur Trade

The fur trade transformed Indigenous economies from subsistence to market orientation through the exchange of furs for European goods.

  • Pemmican production
  • Commercialization of Indigenous economies
  • Pre-capitalist forms of labour organization
  • Royal Proclamation of 1763
  • Economic specialization
  • York Factory trading post
  • European-Indigenous trade

Manitoba Land Allotment and Fur Trade

This content examines the Manitoba Act, 1870 land distribution for Métis families through scrip, and the economic decline of the fur trade.

  • Manitoba Act, 1870
  • Métis land reservation
  • Scrip issuance
  • Land speculators
  • Beaver as staple
  • Fur trade decline
  • Treaty and Reserve systems
  • Bison population decline

Treaties and Indigenous Sovereignty

Treaties served to reconcile pre-existing Aboriginal sovereignty with assumed Crown sovereignty and define Aboriginal rights during periods of malnutrition and starvation.

  • Aboriginal sovereignty
  • Crown sovereignty
  • Aboriginal rights
  • Treaties One through Eleven
  • Indian Act
  • Malnutrition and infectious diseases
  • Residential school system
  • Dispossession of land and resources

Indigenous History and Canadian Policy

An overview of assimilation policies, the Indian Act, residential schools, and various Indigenous land rights and political crises in Canada.

  • Assimilation
  • Gradual Enfranchisement Act
  • The Indian Act
  • Gender discrimination in Indian status
  • Residential schools
  • Cultural genocide
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission
  • Métis uprisings
  • The Pass System
  • Inuit relocations
  • Land claims
  • The White Paper
  • The Red Paper
  • Oka Crisis
  • Ipperwash Crisis
  • Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
  • Burnt Church Crisis

Make it your own.

Keep these readings and topics in a new study set, or add them to one you already use.

Get started freeLog in