Women

There were very few “civilized” women who participated in fur trade society. These "tender exotics" generally were unable to adapt to the harsh conditions and isolation.

Native women married mountain men and raised their families. It is said that the only authority that the Free Trapper would acknowledge was that of his Indian spouse. The role of the Indian women in the affairs of the tribe was primarily as an authority in domestic matters with responsibilities for housekeeping, - moving and setting up camp, cooking, preparing skins, making and mending garments and footwear, and other household chores. This authority was asserted as much with a white spouse as well as with a man of her own tribe. The household was effectively the property of the woman, and the products of her labor were hers to dispose of as she wished. In some aspects the Indian woman enjoyed considerably more autonomy than her European counterpart, at times leading to considerable confusion amongst the patriarchal trader/trappers.

Indian wives expected and received lavish gifts, for their husbands strove to exhibit them as the most brilliantly clothed and ornamented of the women at rendezvous.

More so then even the native men, the Indian women welcomed the introduction of European technology. Items such as kettles, knives, awls and woolen cloth greatly eased the domestic burdens of the women. In many instances it was the Indian women who acted as an ally or peace-maker to advance the cause of the fur trader, suggesting that it was in the woman's interest to do so. Furthermore, because of her sex, the Indian woman could be absorbed into fur-trade society in a way not open to the Indian man.

To become the wife of a fur trader offered the Indian woman the prospect of an alternate way of life that was often easier physically and richer in material ways. Such an alliance did require some sacrifice in personal autonomy as the Indian woman was forced to make some adjustments to the traders patriarchal views of home and family. One Nor'Wester noted that Cree women considered it an honor to be selected as wives by the voyageurs.

Because there were no clergy in the mountains, marriages were "after the custom of the country" or a la facon du pays, an indigenous marriage which met both the needs of the trader and the natives. The Indians initially encouraged the marriage alliances between their women and the European and European descent traders. The Indian viewed the marriage in an integrated social and economic context, whereby the marriage created a social bond which served to consolidate economic relationships with the traders. In return for giving the traders sexual and domestic rights to their women, the Indians expected reciprocal privileges such as access to posts, provisions and trade goods. Among the Cree Indians it became customary to reserve one or more daughters specifically to offer as wives for the traders.

The benefits of marriage also accrued to the traders. It didn't take traders long to realize that marriage to a daughter of a leading hunter or respected chief not only secured the furs of the father-in-law, but of all his relations as well. Marriage to an Indian woman furthermore provided the trapper/trader with a translator and cultural liason/ambassador within her tribe. The domestic chores performed by the Indian woman greatly assisted the trapper/trader and greatly enhanced his ability to successful prosecute his end of the fur trade.

Trappers who chose to raise mixed blood families often found themselves acting as mediators between two cultures, interpreting each to the other and many would even find themselves aligned with their adopted people in times of conflict. Women and children often traveled with the trapping brigades. If it was not possible to travel with their husbands, the women might return to their tribal families, or might camp near the trading post until their husbands returned from the hunt.

Divorce was a simple affair. If an Indian woman decided to divorce her husband, she would simply put his things outside the door of the lodge. When the man returned, he had two choices. He could try to talk his way back in, or he could simply pick up his belongings and move on. The trapper would often "turn off" his Indian wife on retiring from the mountains. Some of the men, particularly officers in the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company would provide an annuity for their women and dependents, however, far too many simply disappeared from the lives of their native families.

Here are some of the women who made a mark on the fur trade:

Dorian's Wife

Narcissa Whitman/Eliza Spalding

Thanadelthur

Isabel Gunn

Marie-Anne Gaboury

For more information regarding women in fur trade society see;

Many Tender Ties: Women in Fur-Trade Society in Western Canada, 1670-1870; by Van Kirk, Sylvia, published by Watson & Dwyer Publishing, 1981.

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