Beginnings of the Fur Trade:
For the French, colonies existed mainly to raise money for the home country; not for settlement. Good money was made from fishing, but the Europeans could even obtain more profit from the beautiful furs provided by animals such as beavers. A fashion that became extremely popular in the late 16th century were felt hats, which was made from beaver pelts. This increased the demand for beaver pelts tremendously. The native people also accepted the idea of fur trading. The native people brought fur pelts of beaver, otter, mink, marten, and fox and traded them for European tools that they desired such as pots, liquor, knives, and beads.
Aboriginals and the Europeans:
By the early 1600s, settlement and large colonies had been established. French colonies existed in Acadia in the Maritimes and in New France in the St. Lawrence valley. These two dominating powers formed alliances with the First Nations. In order to support their commercial interests, which included fur, the British allied with the Iroquois while the French allied with the Hurons, who were enemies of the Iroquois, and the Algonquins. Because of their geographical location, the Hurons contained many economic advantages such as excellent fishing and perfect fields and soil for planting. Eventually, a vast trade focused on beaver pelts spread across North America.
However, due to the Europeans coming and meddling with relationships and alliances, the Aboriginals, whose relationships used to be peaceful, were now strained and many became enemies. The alliance with the Hurons provoked the Iroquois (enemies of the Hurons). This resulted in increased attacks from the Iroquois around the mid 1600s. However in 1701, the Hurons and Iroquois promised to live in peace.
French men travelling in the wilds had to create alliances with the First Nations who knew all about nature. Many of these relationships between the European men and the native women, who supplied them with food, clothes, and medicine, resulted in families. This union was then given the name Metis, which is a French word for mix. These families changed the way of living for the natives drastically. While New France began to expand, the French continued to build trading forts at strategic locations where Natives could bring their furs to trade.