Indigenous Peoples' Participation in the Nineteenth Century Fur Trade in Canada and Whaling Industry in New Zealand

University of Alberta Re-Conceptualizing the Traditional Economy: Indigenous Peoples’ Participation in the Nineteenth Century Fur Trade in Canada and Whaling Industry in New Zealand by Leanna Parker A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Comparative Indigenous Economic History Department of Rural Economy and the Faculty of Native Studies ©Leanna Parker Spring 2011 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author’s prior written permission. Examining Committee Frank Tough, Faculty of Native Studies Naomi Krogman, Department of Rural Economy Jane Samson, Department of History Cheryl McWatters, Alberta School of Business Arthur J. Ray, Professor Emeritus, History Department, University of British Columbia Re-Conceptualizing the Traditional Economy: Indigenous Peoples’ Participation in the Nineteenth Century Fur Trade in Canada and Whaling Industry in New Zealand Abstract Contemporary resource use on Indigenous lands is not often well understood by the general public. In particular, there is a perception that “traditional” and commercial resource use are mutually exclusive, and therefore there is often an assumption that Indigenous communities are abandoning their traditional economy when they participate in the commercial sector of the larger regional economy. This perceived tension between traditional and commercial resource use is caused in part by a limited understanding of the participation of Indigenous peoples in commercial industries historically and the subsequent process of the commercialization of some aspects of Indigenous peoples’ pre-contact economies. This dissertation examines the seasonal cycle of activities and the patterns of consumption and production of the Indigenous peoples who participated in the fur trade at Ile a la Crosse in northwestern Saskatchewan and the whaling industry at the Otakou shore station in southern New Zealand. A systematic analysis of the daily journals and accounting records kept by company employees in these two regions demonstrate that participation in these industries allowed the Indigenous economies to be transformed from pre-contact times. While this participation did not completely subsume the Indigenous economies, the changes that were made created a need for the Indigenous people to continue accessing the European-style goods that had been incorporated into their livelihoods, a need that was exacerbated as local resources declined as a result of over-use. Thus, there is a need to re-conceptualize what is generally thought of as the “traditional economy.” The traditional economy in contemporary Indigenous communities is often perceived as an Indigenous approach to resource use that has changed little, except perhaps in the technology used, from pre-contact times. This dissertation, however, clearly demonstrates that participation in commercial industries historically encouraged the adaptation of Indigenous economies in response to changing opportunities and circumstances. It becomes clear then that the so-called “traditional economy” of today, is an Indigenous economy that has already been shaped and influenced by participation in historical commercial economies. Understanding the adaptability of Indigenous economies has important implications for economic development initiatives in Indigenous communities today. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisory committee – Frank Tough, Naomi Krogman and Jane Samson – for their insightful comments, support, and overall assistance in the completion of this dissertation. I am grateful for the assistance of the staff and archivists at the Hocken Library in Dunedin, New Zealand, the Mitchell Library in Sydney, Australia and the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand. Their knowledge and friendly assistance allowed me to navigate the archives efficiently and effectively, and made my time in New Zealand and Australia thoroughly enjoyable. I long to return to these countries and spend more time exploring. The research for this dissertation, particularly the tedious data entry of the Hudson’s Bay Company Indian ledgers, would not have been possible without the support and assistance of many of the staff and student researchers working at the Métis Archival Project. In particular, I would like to thank Magdalena Jordan, Maria Peeters, Christine Martin and Kaylee Linden for their assistance in data entry and verification. Without their help, this research would have taken even longer. However, the support and assistance of Meika Taylor, Darlene Bouvier, Shane Nightingale, Kirsten Lindquist, Katy Dimmer and all of the others was much appreciated as well. I would not have survived the process of data entry, verification, cleaning, coding, analyzing and writing without the support, encouragement and friendship of everyone in the PhD support group. I owe a debt of gratitude to you all – Emily Snyder, Val Napoleon, Shalene Jobin, Tracy Bear-Coon, Hadley Friedland, Sarah Hamill, Val Knaga, Jessica Kolopenuk and JD Cruikshanks – as you kept me going when I thought I might go mad. The insightful comments on my Findings chapter by the Research Group on Indigenous Politics and Theory (Val Napoleon, Isabel Altamirano-Jimenez, Robert Nichols, Jodi Stonehouse and Emily Snyder) was greatly appreciated. The summary of my results and trying to explain what all of the analysis actually meant is much stronger and clearer as a result of your comments and questions. Finally, none of this would have been possible without the love and support of numerous family and friends, both those in Canada and those in New Zealand: Stan, Lorraine and Mike Parker, of course, but also Emily Snyder, Erin McGregor, Meika Taylor, Nathalie Kermoal, Darlene Bouvier, Nalani Wilson, David Haines, and others too numerous to mention. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction - The Traditional Economy in 1 Indigenous Communities Chapter 2: Literature Review 11 The Fur Trade and Whaling Industry as Economic 12 History The Relationships between Indigenous Peoples and 31 Mercantilists in the Fur Trade and the Whaling Industry The Use of Journals and Accounting Records in Fur 46 Trade and Whaling Industry Literature Conclusion 51 Chapter 3: Methodology 53 Sources of Data 53 Seasonal Cycles and the Analysis of the Daily Journals 65 Patterns of Consumption and Production and the 83 Analysis of the Accounting Ledgers Converting Made Beaver to Pounds Sterling 99 The Challenges of Using Journals and Accounting 112 Records Chapter 4: The Commercial Exploitation of the Beaver and 115 the Whale The Beaver 116 The Whale 119 The Commercial Exploitation of the Beaver 122 The Commercial Exploitation of the Whale 130 Conclusion 140 Chapter 5: The Geographic and Economic Context of the Fur 142 Trade at Ile a la Crosse and the Whaling Industry at Otakou The Trade at Ile a la Crosse 142 Whaling at Otakou 152 Chapter 6: Seasonal Cycle of Activities at Ile a la Crosse and 162 Otakou Seasonal Cycle of Activities at Ile a la Crosse Post, 162 Saskatchewan Seasonal Cycle of Activities at Otakou Whaling Station, 202 New Zealand Patterns of Interactions in the Fur Trading and Whaling 217 Seasonal Cycles Chapter 7: Patterns of Consumption and Production of 222 Indigenous Peoples at Ile a la Crosse and Otakou Production and Consumption by Dene, Cree and Métis at 224 the Ile a la Crosse Post, 1832-1879 Production and Consumption by Maori at the Otakou 284 Whaling Station, 1841-1848 Comparative Analysis of the Accounting Data, Ile a la 327 Crosse and Otakou Conclusion 342 Chapter 8: Findings and Conclusions - The Mixed, 344 Subsistence-based Economy in the Nineteenth Century Adaptations to the Indigenous Economy in the Ile a la 348 Crosse Region Adaptations to the Indigenous Economy in the Otago 356 Region Comparative Analysis of the Fur Trade at Ile a la Crosse 359 and the Whaling Industry at Otago Chapter 9: Conclusion - The Resiliency of the Indigenous 368 Economy and the Dispossession of Indigenous Lands and Resources The Fur Trade at Ile a la Crosse 368 Whaling at Otakou 371 Seasonal Cycles and Patterns of Interaction in the Fur 374 Trade and Whaling Industry Patterns of Consumption and Production of Indigenous 376 Peoples at Ile a la Crosse and Otakou Limitations of the Research and Work Still Remaining 378 Implications of this Research 384 Selected Bibliography 399 Appendix A: Seasonal Cycles Based on the Piraki Log 414 Appendix B: Additional Data Related to the Consumption and 420 Production Patterns at Ile a la Crosse and Otakou List of Tables Table 3.1 Cost to Ile a la Crosse Post Compared to Cost to Indians 105 of Key Trade Commodities, 1832-1866 Table 3.2 Price Received by Ile a la Crosse Post Compared to Price 107 Paid to Indians of Key Fur Pelts, 1832-1866 Table 6.1 Time Spent by Indians at Ile a la Crosse Post, 1810-1890 166 Table 6.2 Time Spent by

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