Exploring the Fur Trade Virtual Field Trip Resources

Thank you for booking a Virtual Field Trip at the Manitoba Museum. We have designed this resource guide to help you enrich your students’ learning before and after their virtual visit. All of these activities are reflective of the Manitoba Curriculum Framework of Outcomes and are a perfect way to get your students ready for their field trip or to recount their adventures.

Summary This program introduces participants to the big picture of the western Canadian fur trade. We will investigate the different roles of those involved in the fur trade (e.g. trappers and traders) and the development of fur trading companies. Participants will learn how a trading post worked and uncover some of the technologies, objects, and ideas traded between European and First Nations people.

Recommended pre-visit resources

Besides the following activities, another great resource is Kayak Magazine from Canada’s History. They have great tools and lesson plan for your students. Check out their “How Furs Built Canada” issue!

Kayak Magazine – How Furs Built Canada

A great video to watch before your Virtual Field Trip is a tour of the Nonsuch, the ship that started the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Virtual Tour of the Nonsuch, a fur trading ship

Vocabulary: Here are some key vocabulary words that your students may encounter during their virtual adventure with the Learning & Engagement team at the Manitoba Museum.

Beaver: A rodent with thick, soft underfur perfect for making felt into hats.

Coureur de bois: French for "runner of the woods" these ancestors of the voyageurs were independent, unlicensed traders who traveled by canoe to the west to form partnerships with First Nations and trade for furs.

Fort: During the fur trade, many trading posts were called forts, even though they were not military in purpose, and most did not have significant fortifications.

Guide: A person employed to lead people through unfamiliar territory.

Hatter: A skilled tradesman who made beaver hats in England.

Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC): A fur trading company that started in 1670 by the British to buy and sell the products of Northern Canada, such as furs. In the early years, Indigenous People brought furs and trade goods to forts on the shores of the Hudson Bay. Over time, competition from the North West Company forced them to extend trading posts into the interior. HBC owned very large area of Canada, which it sold to the Canadian government in 1870.

First Nation: The original people of Canada and their descendants, which is made up of many different and distinct nations and societies within the land that now makes up Canada.

Interpreter: A person employed to provide translation services. Usually, interpreters could speak French or English, and one or more Indigenous languages.

Made Beaver: The unit of value used in the fur trade instead of money. A Made Beaver was equivalent to the value of one nice beaver pelt.

Métis: A group of people with both First Nation and European family ties who languages, heritage and culture are taken from both societies. During the fur trade, the Métis provided food, interpretation skills, and other services. In Manitoba, the Métis often felt like they didn’t belong in either the European community or the Indigenous community and therefore developed their own identity as a new nation, the Métis Nation.

Muskrat: A large North American aquatic rodent. It is similar to the beaver but much smaller in size.

North West Company (NWC): A fur trading company that dominated the industry from 1784-1821 with Scottish roots. With a base of operations in Montreal, the NWC spread westward on the waterways. Their competition, the HBC, was forced to aggressively follow suit by building competing posts, sometimes side by side. After years of intense rivalry with the HBC, the two companies merged in 1821, keeping the name Hudson’s Bay Company.

North West Passage: A possible western sea route that would connect Europe to Asia.

Pelt: The hide or skin of a fur-bearing animal with hair still attached.

Pemmican: A mixture of dried meat, fat and occasionally nuts and berries. This was a main food source for fur traders because it was a high-protein and high-energy food that was lightweight and didn’t spoil.

Portage: A stop where both the canoe and its load were carried overland.

Rupert’s Land: The territory granted to the HBC by its Royal Charter of 1670 and incorporated into the Dominion of Canada in 1870. It encompassed the area where all lakes and rivers flow into Hudson Bay. The name honours the HBC's first Governor, Prince Rupert.

Trapper: A person who traps wild animals, especially for their fur. In the fur trade, most trappers were Indigenous.

Voyageur: A French term that means traveler, which described the French Canadians who worked in the fur trade, transporting goods and furs by canoe to different trading posts.

Pre-Presentation Activities:

Innovative Technologies People have always used their ingenuity and creativity to make their work easier and faster by inventing new technology. First Nations have always utilized resources found in nature, like bark, wood, stone, hides and bone, to create sophisticated technologies.

The fur trade was more than just the exchange of furs. Some of the valuable trade goods in the fur trade were Indigenous inventions and tools. These technologies were exchanged as key trade good items as it helped people accomplish their tasks faster and with ease.

Here is a list of some Indigenous tools and technologies that you could explore and learn more about: Moccasins Toboggan Tipi Clay Pot Snowshoes Birch Bark Canoe Wigwam Pemmican Clothing (Anorak/Parka)

Assign your student to explore and research a First Nations technology. Have them reflect on the following questions and answer them on the worksheet on the following page. o How was this tool/technology used? o Where was it used? o What is it for? o How was it important to the culture of this First Nations group? o How did it assist in the productivity of the Fur Trade?

Innovative Technologies from First Nations

Object: ______

Draw it:

What is this made of?

How is it used?

Why would this be useful to a Fur Trader?

Artifact Cards Here are some Artifact Cards that highlight items from the Manitoba Museum’s Collection.

Birch Bark Canoe

Birchbark was an ideal material for canoe construction, being smooth, hard, light, resilient and waterproof.

The birchbark canoe was the principal means of water transportation for many First Nations, and later voyageurs, who used it extensively in the fur trade in Canada. Canoes were an important part of the fur trade and made travelling faster and easier.

Moccasins

A moccasin is a shoe, made of a soft leather (like deer, moose, caribou or bison). It has a sole and sides made out of a single piece of leather. It is stitched together toward the top, sometimes with an additional panel called vamps. The sole is soft and flexible and the upper part often is adorned with embroidery or beading.

Though sometimes worn inside, it is chiefly intended for outdoor use. Historically, it is the footwear of many Indigenous people of North America; moreover, hunters, traders, and European settlers wore them.

Wigwam

A wigwam was a type of house used by some First Nations.

Wigwams had a cone shape or a dome shape that were typically made out of wood. Wooden poles were placed upright, and the top ends were gathered together and bound, with natural binding materials like spruce roots. Large strips of bark or animal hides were wrapped around the frame in layers and then sewn to the structure. Moss or grass mats were sometimes packed around the bark to protect against rain and heavy winds. Doorways were covered by animal hides.

Wigwams were built for easy disassembling and reassembling so that hunting parties and travelling families could have shelter in their new location.

Pemmican

Pemmican was a dense, high-protein and high-energy food that could be stored and shipped with ease to provision voyageurs in the fur trade travelling in the prairie regions where, especially in winter, food could be scarce.

It was made up of dried meat, traditionally bison which was pounded into coarse powder and mixed with an equal amount of melted fat, and occasionally berries.

Anorak (Seal Intestines Parka)

Hooded parkas made from whale or seal intestines (gut) were ideal outer garments for wet weather and ocean travel. They were sewn with fine sinew thread creating a special watertight stitch.

Northern Indigenous groups, like Inuit, Yup’ik, and Inupiaq, made these waterproof garments for hunting and fishing.

Tipi

A tipi is a type of shelter, shaped like a cone and traditionally made from wooden poles and coverings sewn from the hides of bison. Tipis were important to First Nations groups living in the Prairies because they travelled often to hunt, join social gatherings, or find winter shelter. They needed a home that could easily be taken down and rebuilt.

Clay Pots

Ceramic containers like a clay pot were used for cooking, storing grains, and holding water.

First Nations people, often women, created their pottery by hand. The clay was usually collected from hillsides or nearby streams. The mud clay was then mixed with another substance like sand, plant fibers, or shells. Coiling was the most popular method, and long coils were rolled out into thin sausage shapes and then built round and round to make the walls of the shaped pot. Once all the coils were in place, the pot would have been smoothed carefully by hand. When finished, pots were left out in the sun to dry and then heated in a fire to make sure all the water was removed and the clay had turned into pottery.

Snowshoes

A snowshoe is a piece of footwear that resembles a racquet that is attached to and worn underneath a pair of boots. They help to distribute the weight of a person while they walk over deep snow, preventing them from sinking too far into the snow with every step.

To make a pair of snowshoes, First Nations people needed to harvest the right type of wood for the frames and animal for the hide. Frames were generally made of durable, flexible wood like ash or birch trees. The wood was steamed or soaked in water to make it pliable during construction. Snowshoes were then laced, using animal hide. Snowshoes differed in size and shape depending on the type of snow, the use of the shoe and on its maker.

Toboggan

A toboggan was a means of transportation that allowed for moving small loads or people over snow.

Toboggans were constructed of two or more thin boards of larch or birch wood, secured to one another by crossbars, with the boards turned up at the front.

Post-Presentation Activities

Nonsuch Voyage Draw an arrow to complete the route taken by the Nonsuch. Can you find and label the following places on this map: Canada, Hudson Bay and James Bay?

Write a postcard to your family to let them know about your adventures. Image that you have just signed up to become a Labourer for the Hudson’s Bay Company. You are travelling to Rupert’s Land for the first time and will spend the next three years living at a fort, along the Hudson Bay.

Here are some ideas on what you could write about: • What is your daily life like in Rupert’s Land? What type of work do you do? What food do you have to eat? Do you hunt for your food? Get your food from friends? Are your food supplies from the Fort? • Describe the location of the Fort (Are there trees? Is there a river nearby? Are there any beavers here?) • Who lives in the area? Do you trade with them? How do you communicate with them? • Do you travel inland to trade with any First Nations groups? What type of food, supplies and tools do you take when you travel? Does anyone come with you? What is their role? • What is the weather like? What was it like living in the fort over the winter? • What would the image on the front of your postcard look like?

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Trading Post Complete this drawing of a trading post by drawing trade items on the shelves!

What item, made of beaver felt, was popular to wear in Europe during the Fur Trade era? Draw two different styles of this item. If you need some ideas on different styles of hat, check out Kayak Magazine – How Furs Built Canada for some ideas.

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