Mourning for Justice

Mourning For Justice

Before the 1850s, the Indian Americans owned lands across the Pacific Northwest

area including major sources of food such as the Kettle Falls and Columbia River. As

settlers from Europe started to step closer and closer to take away the resources and land

from the Indians, they were helpless in fighting back or demanding justice for their

original presence. As Indians were being moved to reservations under the power of the

whites, they could only listen. However, the Natives managed to keep parts of their

culture while being influenced by the totally new culture the whites brought with them.

Native Americans played the main role in the fur trade, as they were the main

provider of the furs to white people. George Simpson, Explorer and Hudson Bay

Company’s manager, mentioned in George Simpson’s Remarks connected with the Fur

Trade 8c. in the course of a Voyage from York Factory Hudsons Bay to Fort George

Columbia River and back to York Factory 1824/25, “…they are however keen Traders

and through their hands nearly the whole of our Furs pass, indeed so tenacious are they of

this Monopoly that their jealousy would carry them the length of pillaging or even

Murdering strangers who come to the Establishment if we did not protect them” .

Due to their natural skills of hunting and swimming, they were very good at hunting and

skinning beavers. The furs were the main interest of white people, which makes them

played an important role in fur trade. This point shows the power of Indians over the

whites as they are the key to get to the beavers fur, and if they were not happy, there

wouldn’t have been any profit for traders.. Besides, soon after the Native Americans

provided a lot of beaver’s furs for the whites; they started marrying the Whites. It was a

move to allied with the powerful foreigners for wealth, status and military protection . On

the other hand, it could keep the good relationship with the Indians to continue the fur

trading that was bringing in a lot of income for the profit man George Simpson. After