Who were the primary suppliers of beaver furs in North America?

• A. Spanish explorers
• B. French merchants only
• C. British traders
• D. Indigenous hunters and women who prepared the skins for market

Answer: (D)

Beaver fur was driven into the market primarily through Indigenous labor and knowledge. Indigenous hunters trapped beavers across vast areas, and Indigenous women played a crucial role in turning those raw pelts into market-ready skins—scraping, curing, drying, salted, and prepared for trade. European traders then accessed these prepared furs at trading posts in exchange for goods, but they were buyers and facilitators, not the main producers. That reliance on Indigenous trapping and skin preparation explains why this option best fits the question: it highlights who supplied the furs, not who traded them.