One of the most common myths perpetuated by the fur industry is that they play an integral role in supporting indigenous communities across Canada. For example, Canada Goose claims that they “take pride in the fact that by supporting this sustainable industry we are also supporting the native Canadian communities of the North and their centuries-old ways of life that are now being threatened.” The reality?
Less than 2% of the indigenous population of Canada are commercial trappers, and most of these jobs are part-time.
Based on data from Statistics Canada, Global Action Network determined that the average indigenous trapper earns less than $400 CAD per year, or less than 1% of the profits of the commercial fur trade. Most of the money from the fur trade comes from the manufacturing and retail sectors, where indigenous people have almost no presence. Meanwhile, fur goliath Canada Goose is expected to sell $100 million worth of product this year alone.
Despite (or perhaps because of) these realities, the industry works very hard to blur the line between subsistence living and the commercial fur trade by evoking narratives about indigenous survival and tradition. As Paul Hollingsworth explains, ”[t]hey have gone so far as to suggest that people opposed to commercial trade are advocates of cultural genocide. They continue to promote the myth that trapping is culturally and economically central to Canada’s Natives”.
According to the Standing Committee in Aboriginal Affairs, “trappers, native and non-native alike, trap by choice and not need”,
And it goes beyond mere misrepresentation: the fur industry has continually opposed indigenous efforts to label fur as ‘native trapped’. Why? Because the industry doesn’t want the Canadian public to know how little of its total fur production comes from the indigenous populations it so fervently claims to support.