As in all traditional societies, work for the Aboriginal peoples of the past was a means of survival: hunting, fishing, farming, berry picking. These activities varied according to the seasons and the resources available.
Commercial networks were established so that the region’s resources could be traded for goods from another region, making life easier for each community. For example, the Aboriginal people who lived by the sea traded the shells they found in exchange for resources that came from the inland, such as copper.
These networks existed well before the arrival of the Europeans, but when the first colonists arrived, their interests were much different and the trade networks were modified. For example, trading furs with the Europeans became very important.
Today, the Aboriginal people work at jobs just like non-Aboriginal people, for example, in businesses, for the government and in fields like health and construction. However, because the reserves are often located in remote areas, it is difficult to find work because there are not many big companies. Some people therefore choose to move away from their communities to study or work.