Grade 4 · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 6
Contact & the Fur Trade
Beavers, canoes and trading posts
What your child practises
Early European contact, the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies, voyageurs and trading posts, the Métis, and examples of cooperation and conflict. Includes timelines.
NWT Curriculum learning standard: Early contact, trade, cooperation and conflict between First Peoples and Europeans; the fur trade in pre-Confederation Canada and BC
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Put these fur trade events in order, from earliest to latest.
- ⛵Captain Cook's crew trades for sea otter furs at Nootka Sound (1778)
- 🤝The HBC and the North West Company join together (1821)
- 🦫The Hudson's Bay Company is founded (1670)
- 🏕️Fort Langley trading post is built (1827)
The Hudson's Bay Company is founded (1670) → Captain Cook's crew trades for sea otter furs at Nootka Sound (1778) → The HBC and the North West Company join together (1821) → Fort Langley trading post is built (1827)
Hint: Use the years to help you. The smallest year happened first.
Question 2
Where was the North West Company based?
- 🏙️Montreal
- 🏔️Vancouver
- 🎡London
- ⛏️Barkerville
🏙️ Montreal
Hint: The Hudson's Bay Company was run from London, England. Its rival, the North West Company, was run from Montreal.
Question 3
Why were most trading posts built beside rivers and lakes?
🏞️- Water routes were the main highways for canoes
- Traders liked to swim
- Roads were already everywhere
- Rivers were full of gold
Water routes were the main highways for canoes
Hint: There were no roads or railways. Canoes carried people and furs along rivers and lakes.
Question 4
What did First Peoples often receive in trade for furs?
🍲- Cars and bicycles
- Metal pots, axes, needles and wool blankets
- Phones and computers
- Gold coins only
Metal pots, axes, needles and wool blankets
Hint: Metal goods were useful and long-lasting, and wool blankets were warm.
Question 5
Is it cooperation or conflict? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: 🤝 cooperation · ⚡ conflict
- 🍲trading furs for metal pots and tools
- 📜breaking promises made in agreements
- 🛶First Peoples guiding traders along rivers
- 🏠settlers taking land without asking
- ❄️sharing how to survive the winter
- 🗺️arguing over who could trap where
🤝 cooperation: trading furs for metal pots and tools, First Peoples guiding traders along rivers, sharing how to survive the winter · ⚡ conflict: breaking promises made in agreements, settlers taking land without asking, arguing over who could trap where
Hint: Cooperation means working together so both sides gain. Conflict means a disagreement or struggle.
Question 6
The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people. Their culture began…
🍁- in Ottawa after Confederation
- in fur trade families with First Nations and European roots
- in the gold fields in 1858
- on sailing ships from Spain
in fur trade families with First Nations and European roots
Hint: During the fur trade, families formed with First Nations and European ancestors. The Métis Nation grew from these families and is still strong today.