Before Indians adopted items of European material culture, these items had to prove adaptable to native life ways. Muskets, for example, had certain drawbacks in a North American setting. In situations requiring stealth, the bow and arrow retained its advantage. Furthermore, muskets could be troublesome possessions, requiring continuous supplies of powder, shot and flint and subject to deterioration through rusting and breakage. As well, barrels clogged with snow or mud often exploded, injuring their owners. Nevertheless, muskets were valued by Indians for hunting and making war and by the 1660s a trade gun cost six beaver pelts. The example shown here is a flintlock trade musket manufactured for the Hudson's Bay Company by English gunsmiths in the nineteenth century. The enlarged trigger guard was made to accommodate a mittened hand in winter.
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (S84-7029,S84-7030)
