Fur
Fur is the dense coat of hair covering many mammals. It insulates the animal and has also been used as a material for clothing and other objects.
Hair follicle: A skin structure that produces and anchors a hair. Follicles grow the fibers that form an animal’s coat.
Fur clothing: Garments made partly or wholly from animal pelts with the hair retained. It is the most familiar human use of fur as a material.
Hair: A filament made of keratin that grows from a mammalian skin follicle. Fur is a dense coat of mammalian hair, rather than an individual filament.
Fur trade in North America: The commerce in animal pelts that shaped colonial economies and relations in North America. This trade made fur a force in colonial expansion and Indigenous diplomacy.
Underfur: The short, soft, dense hairs beneath an animal’s longer outer coat. Its density traps insulating air close to the body.
Fur trade: The commerce in animal pelts, which connected producers, traders, and consumers across regions. Demand for garments helped create extensive markets in pelts.
Wool: The fine, crimped hair of sheep and certain other animals, commonly spun into textiles. Wool is usually shorn and spun, unlike fur used with its hide.
Beaver Wars: A series of seventeenth-century conflicts involving Indigenous nations and European powers over territory and trade. Competition over beaver pelts helped drive these conflicts.
Guard hair: A longer, coarser hair that forms the outer layer of many mammal coats. Guard hairs protect the underfur from wear and moisture.
Tanning: The treatment of animal hides to make them durable and resistant to decay. Pelt preparation preserves the skin beneath the fur.