1. Aboriginal vs Non-aboriginal
The Fur Trade in Canada
Land Based vs Maritime
HBC vs NWC
Women vs Men
Aboriginal vs Non-aboriginal

2. Hudson’s Bay Company - The Flag of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC)
- Founded in 1670 by King Charles II

4. Fort Vancouver established by the Hudson Bay Company

5. The Mighty York Boat

6. HBC Main Points:
British company founded 1670 by a Royal Charter signed by King Charles II
“Stay at the Bay” policy with Native trappers coming to them with furs
Very Hierarchical (like the military, rank was very important)
Controlled and traded in an area roughly 1/3 the size of modern Canada.
All employees made a salary (no sharing in profits or losses)
Main fort was York Factory

7. Map of Rupert’s Land

8. The Fight is On!!!
Challenge to the HBC domination of the fur trade in Canada.
Enter the North West Company

11. The North West Company
1783 several companies trading furs merged into the North West Company
Although owned by English Canadians, French traders were employed.
Workers shared in the profits or losses of the company.
Origin of Métis (French & First Nation).
Based in Montreal and traded throughout the North West.

12. The NWC Canoes Fur Trade

13. North West Company Much less hierarchical or “top-down” than the HBC.
The “Montreal partners” stayed in Montreal and traded the furs to London
The “wintering partners” stayed in the North West and did the actual trading and trapping.
They were partners, not employees and thus shared in the profits the NWC made.

14. 1820 Trading Coin

17. Map of NWC Trading Area

19. Captain James Cook Born in England Explored New Zealand,
Australia, Hawaii and the west
Coast of North America
(Vancouver Island)
- Was killed in Hawaii

20. Captain George Vancouver
Born in England
Captain in the British Navy
Explored and mapped a lot
of the Pacific West Coast
(British Columbia, Alaska,
Oregon & Washington State)

21. Alexander Mackenzie Born in Scotland Family moved to America, but then
moved to Montreal
during the American
Revolution
- Completed the first transcontinental crossing of North America when he made it to the Pacific Ocean for the North West Company

22. Simon Fraser Born in America Father died in the American Revolution
Raised in Quebec
Worked in the North
West Company
- Explored much of BC

23. David Thompson Born in England He mapped around 2 million
square km of western North
America
- He worked for both the Hudson Bay and the North West Company
Was an English Canadian fur
trader, map maker and explorer
- Married to a Cree wife for 58 years and had 13 kids

24. HBC vs NWC
In 1821 the two companies decided to end their competition for the furs and join together under one name.
The new company would still be known as the Hudson’s Bay Company because it was the HBC that, under the Royal Charter, still controlled the route from the Hudson Bay.

25. By 1870 the Fur Trade was almost over…
The fur trade had slowly dissolved, partially due to the lack of furs and also the lack of Indigenous people who were willing to assist in trapping and trading the furs. The change in style in Europe from fur to silk was the final blow to the North American Fur Trade.
At the end of the fur trade many traders went to work on the rail road, mining and lumbering.

26. What made the Fur Tade business work??
How was the Maritime Fur Trade the same/different compared to the Land Based Fur Trade?
What role did women play in the business?
What was the impact of the Fur Trade in Canada? Was the experience different in BC?