Beaver hats
In the past, a person's hat revealed his or her social status. Hat styles changed according to the whims of the ruling classes. The popularity of top hats among the bourgeoisie led to an increased demand for beaver furs from the New World. Having eliminated nearly all the beavers on their own continent, Europeans turned to Canada to satisfy demand. The under fur, or wool, of the beaver's coat was highly sought-after by hatters, who prized the thickness and softness of its short hairs. Eventually, the popularity of silk hats took over, and beaver fur fell out of fashion.
Beaver fur
The beaver's coat grows thicker in winter, and it was mainly in this season that Natives carried out the hunt.
The beaver hunt
The hunt began when trappers blocked the exits of the animal's lodge . They then destroyed the lodge using hooks or harpoons. They sometimes used trapping lines, or demolished their dams to reveal the entries to the lodge. At times, they would puncture several holes in the ice around the lodge, into which they inserted nets. They then destroyed the structure and captured the animals as they fled. In summer, they used poplar twigs or beaver castoreum to lure them into traps they set near waterways.
Preparing a beaver hide
Native women cleaned and dried the beaver hides, then stretched them on wooden hoops. In order to tan a hide, they would sometimes smear it with beaver brains or bone marrow, and then expose it to smoke. More often, they simply stretched, scraped and dried the hide to produce what fur traders called "parchment beaver." They then handed the product over to merchants in exchange for European goods.
The fur merchants compressed the pelts into bundles weighing 40.5 kg, bound them together and wrapped them in less valuable hides or canvas. Packaging the pelts this way assured efficient storage during transportation by canoe to the main company trading posts. Once there, the hides were cleaned, sorted and catalogued, then re-bundled for transport to Montreal. From there, they were shipped to England.
When they reached destination, the furs were auctioned off to English hatters. A hatter made on average one hat from a good-sized beaver pelt.
The beaver provided another product that was of interest to Europeans. Its scent gland, called "castoreum", was exported for use in medicines and perfumes.
In the Pays d'en haut, the standard of trade, or unit of currency, was based on the value assigned to one prime beaver pelt. This practice simplified bartering and account keeping. All trade items, be they European or Native-supplied goods, had an equivalent worth in prime beaver pelts. The North West Company called this unit of exchange a plus, or plew. The Hudson's Bay Company referred to it as a made beaver.
The value of the plus varied from year to year and from one district to another, depending on transportation cost.
The following list is based on records from the Lac du Flameau post in the years 1805 - 06:
| Commodity | Value | |
| Trade Goods | ||
| Blanket, 1 point | = |
1 |
| Cotton or flannel shirt | = |
2 |
| Gunpowder (1lb) | = |
2 |
| Musket balls (1lb) | = |
1 |
| Knives large | = |
¼ |
| Kettle | = |
5 ½ |
| Tobacco, (1 foot) | = |
½ |
| Capot , 4 ells | = |
5 |
| Fur & Provisions | ||
| Beaver | = |
1 |
| Muskrat | = |
1/10 |
| Marten | = |
½ |
| Otter | = |
2 |
| Bearskin | = |
2 |
| Meat of one moose | = |
6 |
| Maple sugar (1lb) | = |
1/10 |
|
||
| Previous | Top of page | Next |
2005 © Productions Rivard Inc.
Legal advice | Internet team | Webmaster | Site map |Join us | Français