Partners in Furs (A History of the Fur Trade in Eastern James Bay, 1600-1870)

In this innovative study the authors investigate the effects of the fur trade on the social patterns of the Algonquian peoples living in the Eastern James Bay region from 1600 to 1870. Of central concern are the problem areas of winter hunting arrangements, land tenure system, and patterns of leadership; but historical setting, ecological factors, and the relations of the Algonquians to other groups are also discussed.

The patterns and course of contact between traders from Europe and the Indian populations are described and both English and French sources are used to reveal the competition between the two groups of traders and its impact on the native people. As the Hudson's Bay Company was the one permanent European presence during the period, this ethnohistorical study makes extensive use of unpublished HBC papers. The authors also examine such issues as the rise of a homeguard population at the trading posts, the trading captain system, the development of hamily hunting territories, and the issue of dependence and interdependence.

Partners in Furs provides new insight and makes a significant contribution to current scholarly inquiry into the impact of the fur trade on the native populations.