Deerskin trade



The deerskin trade between Colonial America, Europeans and the Native Americans was one of the most important trading relationships between Europeans and Native Americans, especially in the southeast with the tribes Catawbas, Shawnee,  Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. It mainly started in the 1680s with the rise of fashion crazes in Europe and really boomed in the 1800s when the crazes  of beever skin fell. It was a form of the fur trade, but less known, since deer skins were not as valuable as furs from the north (such as beaver). Colonial deerskin exports were an important source of raw material for the European markets. The Cherokee mainly traded their deer-skins to the English, and the Shawnee traded deer skins to both the French and English colonies prior to 1760.

Effects of the deerskin trade 
Some of the effects that the deerskin trade had on Native Americans was a lost independence and new job opportunities which led to different familial structures. The tribes Catawbas, Shawnee Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws were mainly affected because they are all tribes located in the south east, which is the main location white tailed deer which were most popular for trading. This location also has  easy access to the ocean which makes it the perfect place for trading with Europe. The tribes were affected socially because the new jobs that were created for the fur trappers led to men being increasingly absent from towns (for long periods to hunt deer). Since the focus was now on deerskin for a lot of these people, their techniques became much more quick and efficient, which led to the use of guns. The guns made it much easier to kill lots of deer very fast and made the deerskin trade much more efficient. The guns also led to a rapid decline in White-tail deer numbers. By 1750, deer were becoming harder to find in Cherokee territory. So large was the scale of the trade that in time deer became nearly extinct in the southeast.

The deerskin trade also lead to rises in slavery with Native Americans.  After the Europeans bought deerskin from the Native Americans, they had to haul it back using pack horses, but this became very expensive, so many of the setters resorted to using enslaved Native Americans to make the trade cheaper.

Concurrently, Cherokee society was undergoing a growing dependence on European trade goods. Since so many Native American families depended on the trade because so many of the men were hunters for it, the native americans became dependent on the European economy and soon were completely reliant on them. These events contributed to growing tensions and conflict between the Indian tribes themselves, as well as with the Europeans.

Causes of the deerskin trade 
In the early 18th century, after King William's War, the beaver fur trade declined dramatically while the deerskin trade boomed. This was in part due to a shift in changing fashions in London, where a new kind of hat made from leather was becoming popular. This new hat required deerskin and colonial South Carolina increased the scale of its deerskin exports dramatically. Trade in other kinds of fur fell sharply. The end of a diversified fur trade altered the relationship between European colonists and Native Americans, in many cases caused an increase in tension and conflict. For example, it was an important factor in the events leading up to the Yamasee War.

Deerskin was used to produce buckskin, as well as a chamois-like leather, used for the making of gloves, bookbinding, and many other things.

See also
 Deer hunting
 Leather currency
 Indian trade

Notes
 Drake, Richard B. (2003) A History of Appalachia University Press of Kentucky 
 Braund, Kathryn E. (1996) Deerskins and Duffels: Creek Indian Trade with Anglo-America, 1685-1815 University of Nebraska Press

References

External links
 English Trade in Deerskins and Indian Slaves , New Georgia Encyclopedia

Fur trade
18th-century Cherokee history
History of the Thirteen Colonies
Pre-statehood history of South Carolina
Deer hunting