Fur Country
The country now known as Canada was built off the fur trade. For hundreds of years before Canada became an actual country, the European traders were fully reliant on Indigenous peoples to trade goods for fur with, build alliances, access to new fur territories, and ultimately survive in lands that were not their own. The traded furs traveled back across the Atlantic for use in European fashion, most famously for the beaver-pelt top hats worn by men.
This relatively peaceful period between Indigenous and European traders ended with the American Independence as the British scrambled to take control of the areas north of the 46th parallel in order to prevent American expansion. This signalled an era of intensive colonial nation-building on the Canadian side, with white settlers encroaching on Indigenous lands as expansionist Government policies pushed people west, causing increased competition for dwindling natural resources like fur. The Treaty making process between the Government of Canada and Indigenous groups was supposed to secure a future for Indigenous people in the face of the rapidly changing realities brought on by colonization. Indigenous leaders understood the Treaties to guarantee their right to hunt, fish and trap in their lands. The Government saw it as a means for guaranteeing its access to the rich natural resources of the region.
Despite this, many Indigenous peoples today continue the tradition of trapping as they have for hundreds of years, as means of continuing their connection and presence on the land. This essay explores the modern-day fur trade, across the regions of what is now known as northern Alberta and southern Northwest Territories, spanning Cree, Dene, and Metis lands within Treaty 8 and Treaty 11 territories. In many ways, very little about the structure of the fur trade has changed; wild furs are trapped in the remotest and wildest regions left in northern Canada and traded on the international market at a distinct handful of auction houses across the world. At the same time, trapping in and of itself is rapidly becoming a lost art—fluctuating fur prices and the emergence of the farmed fur industry, pressures from animal rights groups, and dwindling animal populations in the face of rapid industrial development—all make the traditional lifestyle of the trapper less attainable for people. But a handful of people continue to trap and live out the values that trapping espouses, passed from one generation to the next: connection to the land, care of animal populations, working with your hands for a living, diligence and dedication.
Roy Ladouceur at Poplar Point, the reserve belonging to the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation along the Athabasca River. Roy is the only band member who lives at Poplar Point full time. This spring he's moving back towards Richardson Lake to be on the trapline that his father trapped on.
Robert Grandjam's sled dogs. Before skidoos became widely available in northern Canada, dog teams were the main mode of transportation for trappers. Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. Treaty 8 Territory.
Devon Allooloo knocks snow off of one of his traps on his trapline. Northwest Territories | Treaty 11
A trapped martin in one of Devon's traps. Northwest Territories | Treaty 11
Devon Allooloo at his home in Yellowknife, skinning a recently trapped martin. The quality of the animals fur, as well as how carefully its skinned, directly affects how much the fur is worth.
Twice a year, the Saga Auction House in Helsinki, Finland, auctions off fur to international buyers from fur farms across Finland.
Steven Goodman, a buyer from Victor Goodman and Sons. inspects pelts with help from Dale Battise, an employee at Fur Harvesters Auction in North Bay, Ontario. Inspection days are held for three days prior to the auction beginning. This allows buyers to come in and inspect "lots" of pelts prior to the sale. Although furs are graded and priced by the auction house prior to the sale, the inspection days allows buyers to come in and do their own grading to determine what they think the value of the pelts are prior to bidding on them in the auction.
Auctioneers at Saga Auction House in Helsinki, Finland.
Farmed silver fox furs at the Saga Auction Warehouse in Helsinki, Finland. The rise in popularity of farmed furs challenges the profitability of wild trapped fur, including the ability of trappers to continue to make a viable living off their trade.
Peter Kotsaboikidis demonstrates how fur pelts are cut into thin strips and then sewn together diagonally to increase the lenght of the strip as pieces are added to build the garment. Peter and his brother Chris own and operate New York Furs, a shop that's existed in the old-fashion district of downtown Toronto since 1923. The brothers, orginally from Greece, bought it from the orignal business owners over 30 years ago and have been operating here ever since. Toronto, Ontario.
Racks of assorted ranch and Canadian wild mink fur coats in Peter and Chris Kotsaboikidis' store, New York Furs. The shop has existed in the old-fashion district of downtown Toronto since 1923.
Roy Ladouceur at his friend's, Archie Antoine's cabin along the Slave River, north of Fort Chipewayn. Roy promised his father that he would continue to live the traditional life of a trapper in his fathers footsteps. In 2020, Roy started to build his own cabin on his father's old trapline, south of Fort Chipewyan on Richardson Lake | Treaty 8 Territory.
Roy standing on the banks of the Slave River. If you follow the Slave River north (like those in the fur trade did) you will reach Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, where young men like Devon Allooloo are carrying on the tradition of trapping. Treaty 8 Territory.