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Abstract
The involvement of Northern Algonquians in the European fur trade is cited by many anthropologists as having promoted their abandonment of a communally-based social organization in favour of one displaying more individualistic attributes. This ethnohistorical study, of the period from 1700 to 1850, focuses on one Northern Algonquian region, eastern James Bay (Quebec), to determine the impact of the fur trade on the social patterning of its inhabitants. As such, it presents an ethnographic account of these peoples. The major problems investigated are of the social changes that came about in their winter hunting arrangements, in their patterns of leadership and their land tenure system. Other aspects discussed are the historical setting, inter-group relations and the influence of the ecological factors.
Methodologically, it shows that research procedures more akin to anthropological fieldwork studies can be employed despite the total reliance on historical documents. The information extracted was used as the basis of a conventional anthropological analysis. Borrowed from the historical method were the techniques of critical evaluation, corroboration from more than one source and complete documentation. The shortcomings in an anthropological study using the ethnohistorical method are noted. It is expected these defects will be judged to be entirely overshadowed by the relatively extensive range of subjects comprehensively treated in this dissertation and the contribution it makes, in the way of support or challenges, to specific, accepted ethnological notions.
The results of the study indicate several interesting developments. The most significant of these is the rise of an Indian population with a coastal and fur trade post adaptation. For the other Indian groups their mode of social patterning, based primarily on subsistence activities, remained little altered from the beginning of the study to its end. Not even the family hunting territory system was seen to have burst forth suddenly as the means of the Indians' adjustment to the fur trade. Instead it is shown to have had its roots already established in the earliest days of the active fur trade in James Bay. One definite creation of the fur trade was the trading captain system, although its evolution was fashioned by both the Europeans and Indians. Some of its characteristics were also detected among other of the more traditional leadership figures. Finally, the widely accepted notion of the complete domination of the Indians by Europeans is also challenged in this study of the fur trade as it covers the period of intense competition between several European companies.
On the whole, the examination of the historical records from 1700 to 1850 fail to substantiate earlier claims that the fur trade had brought about radical changes in the James Bay social organization. It is argued throughout that the ecological system moderated the size and structure of social groups. This finding, then, leads one to question whether in aboriginal times the James Bay people were able to enjoy communal, larger-scale living. The possibility is raised that indeed it was the fur trade that made such a luxury practicable.
