Research Paper on:
'Fur Trade History as an Aspect of Native History' by Arthur J. Ray Summarized and Critiqued

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
alternative perspective in regards to the fur trade and the relationship between the Natives and the Europeans in early Canadian history. While Ray does not deny the Europeans exploited the  Natives throughout history, he nevertheless presents an argument which suggests the possibility that the Natives were not "unintelligent" in their trading methods and indeed controlled a great deal of the  competition and the quality of the merchandise traded through the Hudsons Bay Company. Ray presents good examples and documentation from the 18th century which provides good evidence for his argument,  however economically it is clear that despite the important roles the Natives played in the onset of the process, the Europeans nevertheless overcome the influence of the Natives negating most  of the argument proposed by Ray. In Rays article "Fur Trade History as an Aspect of Native History" (2000), Ray initially addresses  the traditional racists views of Indians that Natives have had to endure over the centuries. Rather than focus on the negative aspects of Native exploitation however, Ray instead chooses to  focus on the positive and influential aspects of the Natives involvement in the fur trade which is considered as one of the most important factors in the development of Canada  (Ray, 2000). Upon initial investigation, Ray had found that most references to Indian involvement in the fur trade were of "shadowy figures" in the background with little or no actual  biographical details of the natives involved. He believes this is partially due to the fact that most studies on the fur trade were done retrospectively and because of this the  perspective was from a European economic view and the obvious technical gap which existed between the Europeans and the Natives highlighted their subjugation through reflection (Ray, 2000, p. 164).