Deerskins

The transatlantic trade in deerskins was a significant commercial activity in Colonial America was greatly influenced, and at least partially dominated by Scottish traders and their firms. more...

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This trade, primarily in deerskins but also in beaver & other animal pelts was carried on with Native American tribes and is usually referred to as the Indian trade. The Indian trade was conducted largely to fill the high European and later colonial demand for deerskins and other animal pelts trapped by Indians in return for European trade goods. These pelts were then shipped to Europe and used in the leather making industry. This trade had been developing since the seventeenth century and Scottish traders played an important part its advance.

One reason why the Scots were able to make inroads into the Indian trade was due to similarities in culture and dress between the Indians and Scots. This is evidenced by the recollection, quoted by Cashin, that “the Indians were greatly attached to the Highlanders … because of their wild manners, of their manly sports, of their eastern costume, so much resembling their own� . This together with similarly structured societies, based in both cases upon clan or tribal ties and bonds of kinship, is thought to have led to a greater trust and willingness to trade and socialize with the Scots ahead of other traders with little in common to themselves.

The willingness of Scots traders to accept and take advantage of Indian customs was also important and is typified by their willingness to live in Indian villages and take Indian wives. This is in contrast to their main competitors, French traders, who generally didn’t marry among their customers. This cut the French off from one of the main advantages of Scottish traders, that of acceptance into an Indian clan, a network of kin and customers within that clan and superior information from their wives as to the state of affairs, needs and political developments of their Indian clans. These were profound advantages for those involved in the Indian trade as they ensured a connection to the kinfolk of his wife in the various villages he might be trading with, thus providing protection against ill treatment and a guaranteed customer base. This is connected to another advantage of the Scots traders, the fact that they generally refrained from preaching Christianity to their customers and interfering with their natural way of life as the Spanish did through their network of missions throughout their Indian territory . This gave the Scots an advantage over the Spanish and to a lesser extent the French. As Martin states “Scottish resident traders, most of them with Native American wives and offspring, connected themselves to the existing culture instead of proscribing or attacking it�. This policy worked so well that by the American Revolution a large number of Native American chiefs were of Scottish decent, including Alexander McGillivray, the leader of the Creeks.

Read more at Wikipedia.org