From earliest times, the people of Atlantic Canada have been traders. Amongancient societies, stone was one of the most precious commodities. Atlantic Canada had an abundant supply : its cherts, agates, rhyolites and quartzcrystal were highly valued for their beauty and their strength.
One of the most beautiful and exotic stones was Ramah chert, a translucentgrey silicate found in Ramah Bay, in northern Labrador. First discovered by the Maritime Archaic people almost 5000 years ago, it has been traced as far south as Florida and as far west as Ontario.
What did these early traders get in return? In Labrador, archaeologists have found tools made of copper, from far-off Lake Superior. People may also have obtained corn from Ontario, or tobacco from the south. Although some tobacco may have been grown locally, the finest probably came from warmer climates, just as it does today.
Trade was also a way of establishing trust among various groups. Early contacts would have been cautious, but not necessarily aggressive, especially between young people, of marriageable age.
Technologies were also exchanged. In Labrador, the Palaeo-Eskimos had refined the use of the bow-and-arrow, which their ancestors had brought from Asia. Archaeologists believe that they transferred this technology to their neighbours, the Maritime Archaic, between two and three thousand years ago. In time, it was diffused throughout North America.
Slowly, over time, vast trading networks were established down the Atlantic seaboard and into the interior. The commodities changed over the years. Among caribou hunters, the most precious commodity was stone, used for knives and spearpoints. Later, when people began harvesting large quantities of shellfish, beads became another popular trade item.
Today, we know these beads as "wampum." Their value lay not in the shells themselves, but in the symbolic arrangement of those shells. The wampum is more than just beads, just as the Mona Lisa is more than canvas and paint. In its simplest form, wampum is a mnemonic device, used to aid the memory. Orators used it in the same way that a public speaker uses notes today. Wampum belts were also used to summon councils or record treaties. In times of war, wampum was sent from one nation to another.
Women also used shell beads to decorate clothing and make jewelry. Local women preferred the pure white and blue-black beads, obtained from New England. The shells' high cost may have caused some grumbling back home.
The Europeans, when they arrived, were quickly drawn into these trading networks, exchanging beads and tools for furs. Before long, the two economies would be inextricably linked.
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