page 1 of social

• -in the 1580s, french merchants wanted to trade for furs so they sent ships to north america
• -in the beginning, the first nations went to the european trading posts to trade
• -later on, the european traders went to the first nation settlements to trade
• -they were called coureurs des bois, which means ''runner of the wood''
• they learned the first nations language,ways of life and even lived with them
• coureus de bois were canadiens or frenchmen, and young men
• -they traveled by birch bark canoes with 3 men in each canoe
• -they could travel up to 75 km in one day or more if there were rapids
• -if they get to a water fal,they have to carry their canoes up to 10 km
• -the french merchants and cour des bois did not want and create a settlement
• -therefore, the french goverment sent a govener to watch over the colony and the fur trade