The fur trade was such an important period of connectivity, cooperation, and physical peace between indigenous groups and groups of colonists. This is the result of the fur trade being a universally known and easy way for both indigenous and colonial groups to interact and find maybe a sense of comradery. It was also a way for them to learn more about each other’s cultures and their ways of life. It was also a way for both Colonists and Indigenous communities to improve their lives and introduce new materials and a new style of clothing, etc. It was a “middle ground” if you look from the point of not as much violence and war, as well as possibly seen as new building blocks to a peaceful and united new country. However, you could say it was also a period that was filled with unease, distrust, and tension. You could say that this period could also be a distraction from the real thoughts and intentions of the colonists. It’s not unlikely that both indigenous communities and the colonists had a feeling of resentment towards working with each other. I’m sure that not all that traded with each other were fully accepting of the other’s culture and possibly could have seen the items they traded as wrong or a thought of ignorance towards the items.
Another thing we discussed this week was the importance of material possessions and historical materials as historical documents. I believe that items of clothing, utility, and culture from any time are key to seeing how life and people were during that respective period. I think that a material can show who made it, for what purpose it was made, and even the personality of the person who created it. Especially with historical clothing, you can get a sense of a person’s likes, dislikes who they were and what they did, and even what sort of community they were a part of. An example of this would be the bandolier bag, it showed us that it’s probably from a Lenape artist and we discussed just how integral and complex the use of beads was with the bandolier. I enjoyed seeing items like this.