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In return, the Huron-Wendat and other First Nations

received goods from Europe. But they also continued

to fall ill from European disease. The French had been

in North America for less than 100 years. In that time,

measles, smallpox, and

Population Disaster influenza had killed In exchange for furs, French traders offered First Nations

Today historians still study the approximately half of communities European goods.

effect of disease on First Nations the Aboriginal people in

communities in New France. New France.
First Nations people did not

have immunity from European Winners and Losers in

diseases. Over time, contact with the Fur Trade
European diseases decimated

the aboriginal population. Some Long before the French

historians claim they took up to arrived, beavers and
90 percent of native lives.
other mammals had been

important food sources

for First Nations. At first, there were enough beavers to

feed First Nations and satisfy the French desire for fur.

But French traders demanded more and more pelts to

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