In many regions of Canada, from the fur trade to the twentieth century, aspects of Euro-Canadian economies have been dependent on a pool of female Aboriginal laborers. This chapter suggests that the “harsh reality” of northern plains and woodlands survival pushed traders into relationships with indigenous women, perhaps initially as companions and helpmates, but increasingly cognizant of women’s seasoned proficiencies in harvest and provisioning as well as the tanning and preservation of hides. Without this expertise, the trading enterprise likely would have failed. By the mid-nineteenth century, the reciprocity of indigenous women is demographically confirmed, in fifty-three distinct Métis communities in the Great Lakes area alone, whose inhabitations blended native and European ways of living in highly distinct ways.