2. The Fur Trade

Two main companies controlled the early fur trade economy: the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company.

The Hudson's Bay Company was incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1670; and the North West Company was an independent company based out of Montreal.

Initially the Fur Trade was mutually beneficial. The Europeans depended upon Indian and Métis knowledge of the land and their labour; and provided manufactured goods to them. The result was balanced trade relations.

The Métis had a good command of European and Indian languages and became intermediaries in the fur trade economy.

The fur trade brought many changes:

• Diseases such as small pox, tuberculosis and measles;
• Missionaries brought Christianity; and
• Many Indian and Métis people were faced with starvation due to over-hunting and trapping.