Exhibition
Adaptation and Resistance: Indigenous History of the Pejepscot RegionNotes
Along with land, Europeans exploited natural resources. The European market for beaver pelts, which were used in fashionable clothing and accessories like this hat, drove settlement, exploration, and trade in what is now Maine beginning in the seventeenth century. The increased harvest of beavers greatly altered trade alliances, ecological functions, and land ownership. To survive in a world with European technology, Abenaki sought effective ways and technologies to protect their own people and land. They attempted to harvest as many beavers as possible to engage in trade with Europeans.
A beaver fur top hat with a black ribbon band and hem along the brim. The hat was manufactured in Lewiston, Maine.