Hiawatha Story Card 9, 1922
Item 11385 info
Maine Historical Society
Micmac: kopit
Maliseet/Passamaquoddy: qapit
Penobscot: təmahkwe
English: beaver
Latin name: castor candensis
Beavers play a significant role in the environment. Their dams and lodges foster wetland ecosystems, providing necessary habitats for fish, other animals, and vegetation. As beaver populations decreased, this terrain disappeared. This adversely impacted human populations, especially Indigenous communities who stewarded and relied on a balanced ecosystem for thousands of years before European arrival.
Beavers and the fur trade The North American beaver is a study in the environmental and economic impact of the New England fur trade. By the 17th century, the European beaver was nearly extinct, overhunted and depleted after centuries of fur trading. The North American beaver, with its superior fur, soon replaced its endangered European cousin in the marketplace. New fashions, especially men’s hats, only increased the demand, which grew into an insatiable business, devastating beaver populations in Europe and North America alike. A beaver’s thick underbelly fur is optimal for felting, the process where fur is combed and boiled to create an ideal fabric for hats. Beaver hats reached their fashionable peak in the mid to late 19th century.
By the 1850s, North American beaver populations were at an all-time low, about 100,000 in number, compared to an estimated 400 million before the arrival of European settler-colonialists. In New England, beaver populations were almost non-existent by the mid-19th century. A decrease in demand, due to shifting fashion tastes, environmental activism, and public awareness, allowed the population to rebound, with an estimated 15 million beavers in North America today.
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