Trading Places

The fur trade touched pretty much every part of Canada, so there are all kinds of places you can visit to see trade goods, pelts, forts, canoes and more.

Using this activity, students will learn more about the impact of the fur trade in their community. Visit a historic site in or near your community or research one from the article “Trading Places” in the How Furs Built Canada issue of Kayak: Canada’s History Magazine for Kids to answer the following questions.

Download a print-friendly version of this worksheet.

1. What was the fur trade?
2. How is this site connected to the fur trade?
3. Who built this site?
4. When was this site built?
5. Where was this site built? Why do you think they chose this location?
6. What was the purpose of this site? What kinds of activities occurred here?
7. Who would have worked, lived, or visited here?
8. Who were the original inhabitants of the land where this site is now located? How did they use the land before this site was created?
9. How did this site impact Indigenous peoples? How did it impact fur traders and voyageurs? How did it impact the families of fur traders?
10. What is something new you learned about this site?