![]() ![]() The English and their Indian allies hunted Hudson Bay to the north as well as the rivers of New England and the mid-Atlantic to the south. ![]() Lawrence River and west to the Great Lakes. By the 17th century, Native hunters and French explorers had scoured waterways from Newfoundland to the St. ![]() Traded among Native nations, furs later became important objects of exchange with Europeans. Long before European contact, Native Americans valued fur skins for clothing, art, and as spiritual symbols. The search for furs shaped the contours of European and Native American cultural contact and exchange and played a central role in the Atlantic contest for empire. As a result, the pursuit of fur skins became an important driver of Atlantic expansion. ![]() In search of beavers, some fur traders, including those from the English Muscovy Company ( c. 1555) looked east, primarily to Russia. The most sought after fur-bearing animal was the beaver, whose winter coat was soft, warm, and could be easily felted. Elites spent lavishly on furs, which sent merchants and monarchs alike in search of new sources. Conferring wealth and privilege, furs were symbols of superiority for the nobility and success for the upwardly mobile. By the late Middle Ages, populations of fur-bearing animals had been heavily depleted across Europe. ![]()
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