The women discussed in this book were key players in the fur trade through the entire Great Lakes region. Native women would marry French fur traders and bring them to their tribes and they would establish them into their communities. Fur traders who would marry Indian women with a strong kin network often held a strong advantage over their competition. It would plug the traders into some type of hierarchical trade network with the native tribes.

An example of religious kinship in this book is Marie Madeleine, who played a significant role in the tr

Fur traders who married these women relied on them heavily for food and agriculture. Women would work heavily on agriculture to produce food so their husbands could focus on the trade rather than farming. William Burnett was a prime example of one who would use his wife, Kakima, to produce a sufficient amount of food. Not only did Kakima provide enough food for the family she was also able to produce enough food to use as an export of trade with other tribes. This is another example of how interracial marriages benefited the two parties involved.

I think Sleeper-Smith was trying to enlighten the readers about how these marriages played a huge roll in the fur trade. She also shows how much power some of these native women had and they were very useful to the men who they married. Unlike most historical works I have read, this book actually focuses on

Some topics in this essay:
Susan Sleeper-Smith, Joseph River, William Burnett, Sleeper-Smith Catholicism, Marie Madeleine, fur trade, kin networks, fur traders, trade network, tribes example, native women, kin network, marriages played, produce food, interracial marriages,