Trade Silver: Its Significance in European-Indigenous Alliances | Historical Artifacts | Frontier
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- Опубліковано 13 тра 2024
- Join Peter and his guest Gerry Neilands, long time friend and reenactor, as they delve into the pivotal role of trade silver in forming alliances between Europeans and Indigenous peoples. This week on the Woodland Escape, Gerry, a knowledgeable historian on 17th and 18th-century artifacts, unravels the historical significance and cultural impact of trade silver. Discover the intricate details of Jesuit rings, armbands, and more as we explore how these items were used as tools of diplomacy and symbols of status among Native tribes.
Witness an extensive display of trade silver and learn about the craftsmanship and strategic use of these precious items in trade and negotiations. From the early Jesuit influences to the competitive fur trade era, this episode enlightens viewers on how material culture shaped interactions on the North American frontier. Don't miss out on the rich discussions and expert insights that bring the vibrant history of trade silver to life.
Whether you're a history enthusiast, a craftsmanship admirer, or curious about historical reenactments, this video is a must-watch!
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📺 Featuring: Peter Kelly
🎥 Cinematography, Production & Editing: Catherine Wolfe
🎵 Music Courtesy Of: Richard Fortier and Al MacDonald
Thumbnail and description: Shane Kelly
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#TradeSilver #EuropeanNativeAlliances #HistoricalArtifacts #IndigenousHistory #FurTradeEra #JesuitRings #CulturalDiplomacy #17thCentury #18thCentury #HistoryChannel #MaterialCulture #IndigenousTribes #PeterKelly #WoodlandEscape #HistoricalInsights
When you can put yourself back in history, you learn about the world today.
That’s profound!
Thank you Woodland Escape, and Gerry.
Thank you too for your interest.
Another good one. It’s the history and the stories and the historical significance of items , that is most enjoyable to me as I join you & your journeymen.
You have some amazing friends, sir. Again, it was so nice chatting with you and Cathy the other day.
Thanks Rob. It was nice to finally meet.
Jerry's knowledge on trade silver is incredible, especially enjoyed his words about smudging and the spiritual significance of silver to Natives. Thanks for the Video Peter!
I too love the indigenous ceremonies and traditions.
What a magnificent sky! Have never seen such beauty?
Good afternoon Peter please bring him back so much history
That’s the plan.
Another trip in the way back machine. Great episode!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent video, Peter. They just keep getting better. Thanks again
Many thanks
Wow. I'm ready for the next vid with Gerry. Thx guys for doing this, filming it and sharing it with us.
More to come!
@@TheWoodlandEscape - yay
Learned a ton of this and the last foraging video. Top notch content Peter and the guests. Thanks
Glad it as helpful.
Appreciate your efforts and dedication. Your guest have always been a wealth of knowledge and inspiration. The quality of the interviews never disappoints. Thanks again and keep your powder dry!
Much appreciated! Watch yer top knot.
Extremely interesting my friend!!! Jerry is a wealth of knowledge! Keep the wonderful content coming and hope we see each other again soon!
Hi Peter , ist so amasing to see your Videos wich so much Content of the past , i cant wait for the Text one , very nice 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Happy to hear that!
So much interesting information! I always learn something new! I learned many new things in this video, including the explanation of “pieces of eight”. Another great video!!
Glad it was helpful!
Fantastic video. The silver history so interesting. Did not learn this in school. Great selection of trade items there. I have two Hudson Bay blankets and love them. Had them for many years. Nothing like them. I learned where “two bits” came from. Your videos are always educational.
Glad you enjoyed it and also for your continued support.
Very interesting discussion. Thanks for sharing. I'm also glad you put to rest the old rumor that a trade gun cost a pile of beaver skins as tall as the gun. I believe the natives were very well aware of what their pelts were worth. Unless alcohol was involved before trading began, then all bets were off.
And sadly it often was.
Once again, another educational video with excellent content. I have learned a great deal from all of your videos over the last several years. I believe I have seen them all. Please stay true to your passion, and continue to educate.
Great to hear and thanks for your continued interest.
Great video. I could listen to you two all day and never get tired of learning. The Croix de Lorraine is named for a particular region in NE France. Historically it was a dukedom that was quasi independent from France. Much later in time it was the symbol of the Free French in WW2.
Yes sir thank you Lorraine has much importance in the invasion of Normandy
I’d no idea, thanks for sharing that.
Simply awesome video! Thank you Peter.
Glad you enjoyed it
Great content Peter. That fellow is a wealth of knowledge.
He is indeed.
I'm only halfway through and already fascinated with the information Jerry shares, your videos never disappoint! This information needs to be passed on and never forgotten. High school NEVER explained anything in detail, (1984 graduate!) So thank you for the care and interest you and your Mrs take! God Bless!
Wow, thanks! Glad you enjoy them.
Fascinating! I learned so much from this video! 😃👏
I'm so glad!
Enjoyed the video thank you Peter and Jerry.
Our pleasure!
Excellent Episode, Jerry is very informative and has obviously spent a lot of time perfecting his knowledge of the Era. Excellent Guest.
He’s a very avid historical researcher.
Fantastic interview! You mentioned continental dollars in this video, and it brought to mind a gent of that era who had the foresight to buy up those dollars when no one else wanted them, usually paying next to nothing for 'em. He made out when the gov't bought them back.
Anyway, I had heard the term "trade silver" in the past, but was unaware of how it was used in the ways described here. I thought it was currency only. The tribes had a genuine appreciation for adornment.
Indeed, to the point that over hundreds of years of trade it was often considered spiritual.
Another wonderful video. I watched as much as I could on my lunch hour, and can't wait to finish it when I get home. These videos help keep me going while I wait for the first Camp this spring.
Thanks for doing these wonderful interviews with some of the experts and craftsmen that are bringing history to life. Doo Dah!
Awesome! Thank you!
Fantastic ❤❤❤
Thanks 🤗, Kelly.
Awesome. I’ve been wanting some trade silver
Thanks for sharing this video!
Our pleasure!
That was a wonderful video, i learned alot that i didn't know. Thanks as always!
Glad it was helpful!
That bottle didn't look like the apple whiskey we got! Again amazing stories! Cheers
That we be the good stuff, lol.
An Amazing look into a once thriving relationship between Indigenous and the New Visitors! Excellent! What beautiful trade goods! When we compare this system to our modern system of money (that is no more than paper and cheap metal today) one can see the great value these items had and were held precious. I remember when they phased out silver coins the last in 1964, to the modern sandwich valueless coins of today. Hey, let’s go back to blankets and good knives! It was President James Buchanan 15th President who outlawed the Spanish reale. People were hard pressed to place any value on the new copper and away from silver. If they only knew what’s used today? Oweeee! I often think of the Indian Nations, the honor and respect for Earth Mother and the balance in which they lived. We clearly see today how living opposite thus is when the balance no longer exists. It is all the more reason to keep history near and the great value of the Indigenous Peoples who lived here many thousands of years. A land the Europeans found to be a natural paradise. Aho! Kind Thanks and Many Blessings! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania
Thank you Davie well said - Nathan from the four rivers area of western kentucky. "Where the Ohio meets the Tennessee"
Some very wise and profound thoughts, Davey. Thanks for sharing.
Hello friend, long time since I've visited your channel. I enjoy your history sharing. I also enjoy viewing your videos in the morning with my coffee.
Your kentucky friend, nathan
Glad you made a visit, Nathan and pleased that you enjoyed.
Great video. You weren't kidding when you said he was a walking encyclopedia about this. Thanks for the video, Peter and Kathy, as well as Jerry. Keep your powder dry
And a really good friend to boot. Watch yer top knot.
A dive into history
I've always been fascinated with trade silver and last Christmas my wife got me a jeweler's saw and files and I've started making some trade silver items as well as copper. As someone with Mohawk heritage I've been studying what they would have worn as well as what other Natives of the time period wore. It's amazing how big and how important the trade was in that time between Europeans and Native Americans and Indigenous people.
That is awesome, love to see your work someday.
Outstanding as always.
Thanks Donald for your continued interest.
Here in Western Canada, most historic sites don’t even mention Trade Silver. It wasn’t until I was at Ft. William at a “Summer Gathering” that I saw and learned about Trade Silver. Lots of reenactors were wearing it too! From what your guest said; it was a significant part of the fur trade. I enjoyed this video very much! Thank you!
The use of trade silver was all but gone by the time of the mountain man era.
@@TheWoodlandEscape No “mountain men” up here! The rivalry between the Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Company was epic! There was even a few trading posts by the XY Company from what is now the USA. With the Hudson Bay Company supposed charter from the King of England about all the land with rivers that flowed into the Hudson Bay didn’t stop the Northwest Company. They ran trading posts all across central and western Canada right up into the Arctic and into what’s now British Columbia. Sometimes both trading companies even shared a common wall between trading posts. In some of the fur trade journals (eg. David Thompson) mention that the NWCo. had lot nicer “stuff” to trade or even better eating wares such as porcelain plates, silverware and wine glasses! Peter Pond had a full fledged library up on Lake Athabasca. No “mountain men” up here!
@@randolphchappel6098 David Thomson, probably the best map maker/explorer ever!
Good afternoon from Syracuse NY USA brother and everyone else thank you for sharing your live history videos
Our pleasure!
I have been enjoying your live videos and I feel that my friends will also enjoy your videos ( which they do).
I enjoy the historial aspects of your videos, You do great presentations.
Thank you very much!
Peter, an awesome episode. Over 40 minutes and still so much more to cover. As previously said, "bring him back"!!
I also noticed Gerry's well tailored capote in what, if I am not mistaken, is of the French style.
I am working on doing the same. Do you know if it was self made?
Best Regards to you and Cathy!
Glad you enjoyed it! The capote is most definitely French influenced. Hand made, but I believe Gerry said by someone else.
Wow Peter ,another great video. It gave me some ideas for my own teaching presentations
That's great! I look forward to doing an episode on Native culture when you guys come up.
Great content. Several alt news sites discuss the end of the USD and a return to currencies backed by precious metals, so they are advising to buy silver for the period of transition. This content is an excellent starting point to study the real use of precious metals as the trading medium to buy essential items and operate a business. You may not be too enthused by the alt media, but more content on how trading was set up using silver may prove interesting to those who are trying to work our how to use silver for more than decoration and collecting unique coins. For example, how did thay cut a Spanish Dollar into pieces of 8 that are suitable for trading?
Interesting take on our future monetary system. Just a guess, but I assume they simply used a cold chisel to dissect them.
You touched on the blankets of Robert Stone, I think you said his name was. I would love to have a link to such fine work! I believe in that time the blankets were probably 3 times as thick, or puffy like a sheep. When you read a book like Nicholas Crestwell, with one blanket, or the frontiers men only having one blanket in the dead of winter, you’d say to yourself I’d freeze to death! But, it is important to remember the blankets of the time were twice as heavy compared to ours today. Our products then and now are definitely different
Yes sir so true. Back then the Europeans hand made high quality trade value items for survival. Nowadays its been watered down to barely meet the needs and auto crafted for Mass production
Totally agree. You can find him on Facebook, but you’d better hurry, rumor has it he is retiring from blanket making next year.
I Wish kids learned things like this in school.
Heck, I wish I had, lol. We need to rethink how we present history.
the native NEEDING what the fort had for the gun, lead ,powder, etc,,_ KEEP THE CUSTOMER COMING BACK. Sound familar ? our autos, appliances, etc. , the more things change, the more they stay the same, Another great vid !! Thanks Peter.
Indeed they do!
Great display. The English did not allow silver outside of England if they could help it. I believe it was against the law in the colonies. If you see some history of silver smiths they could only do business with used goods. So a wealthy person would bring in a piece of table silver so it could be melted down to make the new. To my understanding that is why the Spanish dollar was used and why in the US the dollar was used. The Spanish would allow silver to go out because they had it coming in in large amounts. If I remember correctly Elizabeth I started the idea of money coming in to the country but not going out. I believe she encouraged people to produce the most imported items posiible so that merchants didn't spend money in other countries. This can be seen in the Opium Wars as the East India Company did not want to use silver for tea, silk and porcelain. Silver is still prized by natives especially in Navajo country. They sell more to tourist than each other.
We could take a lesson from the old Queen and rethink free trade, lol. I’m afraid that genie is out of the bottle.
My Father told me of some other, mos' marvelous metal work that the Europeans possessed, and that the Native Peoples valued highly...; hardened an' tempered files that could shape other metals -- even a good steel tommyhawk -- and, the fine steel needles that permitted the most intricate sewing and embroidery stitches.
🙂
Rick Bonner Pennsyltucky
There is no doubt that European wares made their lives easier.
Great episode. Gotta do something about that mic, cover it with trade silver maybe...
Thanks for the feedback … a constant problem if we want good sound.
Excellent!!👌🏻👍🏻. 🐾🙏🏻✌🏻
Many thanks!
@@TheWoodlandEscape thank you all for the information.
I LIKE the hatband!
It’s a dandy.
Thank you for all this delicious information. I have no idea about indigenous people washing clothes routine, but as far as i know, european settlers used to soak shirts and bedlinen in water with leach and other stuff and then smash and strike linens by the stones or boards. So, did they have to take off all that shiny trade goods from shirts while washing?
I believe the normal method for natives was to simply hang up garments and let the rain and sun freshen them up.
The Plains Indians out west used dragon fly symbols a lot because they are always flying around and don’t sit still for very long. They would be very hard to hit with a gun or arrow. Thats how a warrior wanted to be. A butterfly symbol could be used also.
Interesting!
Do you have documentation for long hunters wearing trade silver?
From the Canadian side of the border yes, as to the middle ground Longhunter no.
@TheWoodlandEscape sorry I thought your friend said longhunters wore trade silver.
Ah, so my Scottish grandmother wasn’t saying “luck-in-boots,” she was saying Lockenbooth. 👍🏼
I believe Dad used to have several pieces of 8 from the time when it was still used.
So cool!
👍
Al Gonquin won't even talk to you, if you are aren't ready to trade in silver.
Pretty much!