Grade 7: New France
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Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5 Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Unit Test LESSON FOUR
The Fur Trade:
An Expedition

Time: one to two periods (40 - 80 minutes)

Expectations:
Students will:

  • brainstorm as an entire class.
  • work as a member of a team.
  • use the Internet as a visual and written source of information.
  • present orally in front of the class.
  • justify their decisions.

Preparation:
Photocopy:

Set the computer(s) at the Canada's Digital Collections website at the Hudson's Bay Company website.

You may want to preselect the groupings of three to four students.

Look over Possible answers to HBC Expedition

Lesson Plan:

  1. Brainstorm a list of all possible necessities for a canoe trip.  Write them on the board or on an overhead as the students say them. Then, erase the board or turn off the overhead projector.
  2. In groups of three or four, have the students complete the "Outfitting for a Fur Trade Expedition" handout.  While completing the Internet activity, allow the students to go from the Hudson's Bay Company's first page to "English", then to "Index", and finally, "Category 6: Artefacts from the Fur Trade".  The students should have the rest of the 40 minute period and perhaps part of the following class to complete this task.
  3. During the second class, after the students have completed their group work, have them, in groups, present their lists to the class.  All group members must participate in the presentation.  They each must describe their reasons for their choices for at least two items from their own list and one item from the Hudson's Bay Company list. After the presentation, the students evaluate their own performance.

Evaluation Opportunities:

Enrichment/Extension:
Have the students prepare food of the Fur Trade era. One such example is bannock.
Bannock is the traditional bread that Native Canadians, trappers and pioneers cooked over an open fire. The recipe follows.
  • 5 cups flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2/3 cup shortening
  • 2/3 cup milk powder
  • raisins, dried fruit, nuts, or pie filling (optional)
Combine ingredients, except pie filling, and add enough water to make a dough.  Wrap dough thinly around a stick.  Roast over coals until golden brown.  Put pie filling in the hole of the stick.  Recipe makes lots! (Bannock can also be fried in a pan.)

STUDENT WORKSHEET:
Group members:

Outfitting for a Fur Trade Expedition

Your supplies are running low and you have to go trap some more animals to get some more furs.  You will be gone for two months during the winter.  On your expedition, you will probably have to trade with some of the Natives because they are very skilled hunters and trappers. There are many things that you are going to need for your trip.  In groups of four, make a list of what you will need. Each group member must have a role as time keeper, note taker, encourager, or team leader. If you are working in a group of three, the team leader can also be the encourager.  Be prepared to justify why you would need these items.

The Hudson's Bay Company's website in Canada's Digital Collections shows several artefacts from the era of the Fur Trade.  Add to your lists at least one thing from each section (personal goods, trade goods, equipment, currency in the fur trade).  Remember the time period we are studying (1544-1759).  You would not have access to any artefacts that are not from this time period.

Things we need:
Things the Hudson's Bay Company website reminded us that we need:


 

Peer Evaluation

Name_________________________

Evaluate your teammates on their performance.  The scale is from 1 to 5.   The teacher is the only one who will see your evaluation so please be fair and honest with your responses.

1 = not acceptable      2 = poor but okay      3 = satisfactory      4 = very good      5 = excellent

GROUP MEMBER
played his/her role in the team 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5
contributed appropriately to the group's answers 1   2    3    4    5 1   2    3    4    5 1   2    3    4    5
worked well with other group members 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5
participated in the group presentation 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5
TOTAL      
Peer Evaluator name:_____________________
Comments:
 
 
 

Teacher Evaluation of Presentations
 
STUDENT:
quality of examples 1    2    3   4    5 1    2    3   4    5 1    2    3   4    5 1    2    3   4    5
quality of reasoning 1    2    3   4    5 1    2    3   4    5 1    2    3   4    5 1    2    3   4    5
communication of answers   1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5
team skills in presentation 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5 1    2   3    4    5
TOTAL
Comments:
 
 
 

  • Specific Excerpts from SchoolNet's Hudson's Bay Company Collection:
  • Possible Answers for the "Expedition Preparation"
  • Background Information from the Hudson's Bay Company's SchoolNet web site
THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY MUSEUM COLLECTION
"A GIFT TO THE NATION"
THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY MUSEUM COLLECTION
©1996 Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature

On March 15, 1994, the Hudson's Bay Company announced the donations of its museum collection to the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature and its corporate archival records to the Provincial Archives of Manitoba. In addition, a number of artifacts relevant to the interpretation of the national historic site of Lower Fort Garry were donated to Parks Canada. These donations were in keeping with the Company's practice of transferring its assets that are part of Canada's heritage to public ownership as indicated by three previous gifts -the national historic park sites of Lower Fort Garry and York Factory and the replica of the Nonsuch located at the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature.

The entire tax savings accruing from the museum and archival gifts under the provisions of The Movable Cultural Property Division of the Department of Canadian Heritage will be dedicated to the Hudson's Bay History Foundation and the Hudson's Bay Charitable Foundation. The Hudson's Bay History Foundation will be used "to advance knowledge of, and interest in, Canadian history through financial assistance to qualified organizations." In addition to annual operating funds, the Foundation will provide the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature with 2 million dollars to house the collection in the future Hudson's Bay Company wing. The Manitoba Archives will receive funding for capital upgrading to house and preserve the Company's archival materials. In addition, a newly-formed Popular History Society will receive an annual grant.

In the words of Mr. Gary Filmon, the Premier of Manitoba, "these gifts, along with the financial support to care for them, represent an unprecedented act of corporate social responsibility and generosity."   Together with the replica of the Nonsuch, the Hudson's Bay Company Museum Collection will enable the museum to further document and interpret the history of the fur trade and will provide unprecedented opportunities for joint research and public education projects with the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Parks Canada, universities and scholarly organizations such as the Rupert's Land Research Centre, and the Aboriginal, Metis, and Inuit communities.

 

 

 

Hudson's Bay Company Fur Trade Artefacts

A. PERSONAL GEAR
A
HBC 57-20 A-F : CREE-METIS SMOKE TANNED CARIBOU HIDE JACKET, LEGGINGS, and GARTERS with ASSUMPTION SASH
HBC 39-55 A-Z : OFFICER'S CASSETTE
HBC 1295 : CAPOTE; 1920s
B. TRADE GOODS
B1
HBC 37-64 : CURVED KNIFE; Fox Trademark; England; early 1880s
HBC 78-6 : AXE HEAD
HBC 57-73 : PIPE-TOMAHAWK; G.B. Fenstermaker; Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Flints

HBC 73-218 A : FLINT AND STRIKE-A-LIGHT
Flints for creating sparks for muskets, fires and pipe-smoking, and steel strike-a-lights were common trade goods that were carried by men in their pipe bags.

B2 TRADE GOODS
AWL

BC 37-148: AWL
One of the first types of metal goods traded.

COPPER KETTLE

HBC 57-46: COPPER KETTLE
Copper kettles were introduced by the Company in the late 1700s for Aboriginal trade; they were also used by Company men. Birmingham Sheffield were the centres where both brass and metal kettles were manufactured.

TOBACCO CARROT

HBC 59-67: TOBACCO CARROT; reproduction
In the 18th C. much of the tobacco was prepared in this form. The HBC had its private brands prepared by the Imperial Tobacco Company. Tobacco carrots came in various weights up to 15 pounds.

B3. TRADE GOODS

HBC 60-21 A : LINEN THREAD; HBC 60-18 C,D : NEEDLES

HBC 60-14 A-E : LLAMA BRAID FOR DECORATIVE EDGING ON CLOTHING

HBC 60-22 A-C: EMBROIDERY THREAD

B4. TRADE GOODS

HBC 2783 A,J; HBC 60-24 C,D : GLASS BEADS

STEEL TRAP

HBC 58-99 G : NUMBER 3 STEEL TRAP
For trapping beaver, badgers, raccoons, lynx or bobcats.

HBC 2327 B : BARNETT FLINTLOCK; MODEL 1871; LONDON

C. EQUIPMENT

C1

STENCIL

HBC 1450 J : STENCIL
Used to mark fur bales and merchandise from various posts.

HBC 37-141 : BEAM SCALE

HBC 1218 : DOG CARRIOLE; 1908

C2

BENCH/LETTER BOX

HBC 1237 : BENCH/LETTER BOX
This unique packet and letter box was made from a bench originally located at Cumberland House, Saskatchewan prior to 1850. The box is divided into four compartments representing four trading districts:  grasshoppers and crocus for Red River; a stag's head for Norway House; two bison for Saskatchewan; and a bear for Cumberland House. Cumberland House received the Northern District's mail in addition to the mail for Saskatchewan, Edmonton, York Factory, Norway House, Fort Garry and European mails.

SUN DIAL PLATE

HBC 2119 : SUN DIAL PLATE; LONDON
Collected from York Factory.

D. CURRENCY IN THE FUR TRADE
 

HBC 82 C,G,I : OAK TOKEN STICKS
Counters branded with the number one to indicate a value of one made beaver. They were used at Fort Churchill in the 1800s and at other Arctic posts.

HBC 1989 A-D : EAST MAIN TOKENS
Set of brass tokens in denominations of 1 MB (Made Beaver), 1/2 MB, 1/4MB, and 1/8 MB introduced in the late 1800s by Inspecting Chief Factor George Simpson McTavish. Barter or "goods for goods," was the original method used by the Hudson's Bay Company in their trade with Aboriginal peoples. This system was replaced with the use of counters in the forms of ivory discs, wooden sticks, bird quills, musket balls and other objects. In the late1800s,these counters gave way to metal tokens with values stamped on them. The unit of value in trading for furs in the Subarctic was one Made Beaver (MB),that is, a beaver pelt in its prime condition.

HBC 60-80 I; HBC 60-87A; 60-88 E; HBC 60-89;

HBC 60-90 B
HBC 60-80 I; 60-88 E
Ralph Parsons issued tokens made from recycled copper and lead for use in northern Quebec and Baffin Island in the early 20th C. In this trading district, the pelt of the white fox was adopted as the standard of value for trade. The various shapes and sizes of the tokens represented the different animal pelts
HBC 46-39 : EASTERN ARCTIC TOKEN
The number "one" represents the white Arctic fox as the standard of value of trade
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