How did First Nations people participate in the fur and provisioning trade?
First Nations people played a vital role in the regional economy of what is now Saskatchewan by participating as trappers, traders, and hunters within the fur and provisioning trade.1
Their involvement was essential to the survival of European traders, particularly through the provision of pemmican. This high-energy food, made from dried bison meat and fat, was crucial for sustaining voyageurs and traders in prairie regions where food supplies were often scarce, especially during winter. First Nations peoples, along with the MĂ©tis, were primary suppliers of this resource to various trading posts, including Cumberland House.2
Beyond provisioning, First Nations people were integral to the fur trade itself, acting as the primary source of furs that drove the industry's expansion into the interior. European traders often wintered with these Indigenous communities to facilitate these exchanges, establishing a complex economic relationship that defined the region's history until the latter half of the 19th century.13