Definitions

Babiche	Rawhide thong used for making nets and the webbing of snowshoes.
Bale	Furs pressed into standard sized bundles of 40 - 45 kg. (90 - 100 lbs.) usually covered with a protective wrapping. Goods and provisions were also packed in bales.
Blue willow	The common name for the many blue and white china patterns that featured Chinese designs such as pagodas, willow trees and Chinese figures. This type of design, which originated in the 1750s, is still popular today.
Capot	A hooded oat of blanket cloth or other material used as a standard winter wear by fur traders and natives alike. Capotes were an important trade item as were the fabrics to make them.
Carron stove	A type of stove made at the Carron Foundry in Falkirk, Scotland, exported to fur trade posts in Canada. The most common form consisted of a rectangular firebox made up of 6 cast-iron plates with a smoke hole and a fuel door. These stoves were very practical in the fur trade because they could easily be taken apart and shipped.
Clerk's Quarters	The house where the clerk, the man who kept the accounting records at the post, lived. At small posts such as Fort Victoria, the clerk was in charge of the post.
Crooked knife	A woodworking knife with a curved blade used by natives & traders to make canoes and snowshoes, crooked knife blades were popular trade items - after purchase the owner added the handle himself. The primary use of crooked knives is reflected in its alternate name, canoe knife.
Factor	A Hudson's Bay Company employee in charge of a large post like Fort Edmonton, and the fur trade district surrounding it. The factor supervised record keeping and trade, disciplined fort personnel and natives trading at the post and was generally held responsible for the success of the trading season. Hudson's Bay Company posts were sometimes called "factories" although this term was seldom used west of Manitoba.
Fort	A trading post, so called because the many early posts were fortified by palisade walls and bastions. Houses, trading areas, workshops and storage buildings were all surrounded by a palisade. When Fort Victoria was first built it was surrounded by a palisade but by the 1890s that had disappeared.
Free Trader	A man who traded goods for furs but who was not employed by the Hudson's Bay Company or other trading company. Often free traders set up a shop a short distance from a post because of the large number of Indians around the post.
Golden Oak	A style of furniture popular from about 1890s to 1915. Most furniture was made of solid grained oak or of wood grained to resemble oak. Pressed back chairs are typical of this style.>
Hudson's Bay Company	Shortened form of the "Company of adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay" chartered by Charles II in 1670. The Company had a monopoly on trade in the West from 1821 to 1859 and remains important as a trading company in the north.
Methodist	A member of the Protestant denomination formed by John & Charles Wesley during the early 18th century. This denomination emphasized winning others over to their beliefs. A Methodist, Robert Rundle, was the first missionary to settle in the area of the upper Saskatchewan. Methodist missionaries were active throughout Alberta attempting to convert the native population to Christianity. In 1925 the Methodist church joined with two other churches to become the United Church of Canada.
Metis	A French word meaning people of mixed blood, this term refers to people who are part native and part non-native.
Missionary	A person sent out by a religious group to convert non-Christians to his beliefs. In Alberta, most missionaries were sent by the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist churches.
Outfit	The annual shipment of trade goods & supplies sent by the company to its trading posts. The outfit arrived at the post in the fall and that year's furs would go out in spring. Because of this annual cycle, each year, running from June 1 to May 31 became known as an outfit. For example, Fort Victoria closed in the outfit of 1897 - 8.
Palisade	A fence about 3 to 3.5 metres high of stakes or pickets erected for defence purposes.
Pemmican	The staple food of many Plains and northern tribes, pemmican could be made of almost any type of meat. On the Plains, bison meat was most commonly used. The meat was dried in strips, then pounded into a powder. The meat was put into a hide bag, mixed with dried Saskatoon or other berries and melted fat poured over all. When solidified, pemmican stayed fresh for a long time and could be eaten as is or boiled into an instant stew.
Post-on-sill	A building technique commonly used for fur trade buildings in the west. Round or square sill logs were placed on the ground to form the outline of the building. Upright posts with square projections at the ends (tenons) were fitted into the sill logs. Horizontal wall logs with a tenon at each end were slid down into grooves (mortises) in the posts. The wall was built log upon log without the need for nails or pegs.
Rifle	A gun with a series of spiral groves cut on the inside of a long gun-barrel to make the shot go straighter.
Rogan	The Cree word for a type of birch bark container used to hold berries, food and other small items.
Side board	A piece of furniture with drawers and cupboards below and shelves above, commonly used in late 19th century dining rooms. Now called a buffet or a hutch.
Store	A storage depot for trade goods, provisions or pelts. Usually the stores were separate from the trading shop where furs and other goods were traded for important items.
Stroud	A heavy woollen cloth, a popular trade item, used for leggings, blankets and capotes.
Victorian	Of the period from 1837 - 1901, during the reign of Queen Victoria of England.
Voyaguer	A canoeman or boatman, usually a French Canadian, Orkneyman, or native, who served as crew on the brigades of the inland fur trade.
Wattap	Spruce root used for lacing or sewing bark objects together, especially canoes. Wattap was an important country good.
York boat	An inland freight boat used on larger waterways and lakes from about 1790 to the early 1870s. It was rowed by 10 to 12 men and was able to carry several tonnes of provisions and goods. York boats could be portaged by pulling them over log rollers on wide portage trails. They could also be used with sails.