Which term describes an independent trader known as 'runner of the woods'?

• A. The Thirteen Colonies
• B. Ethnocentric
• C. Mercantalism
• D. Courier du Bois

Answer: (D)

The idea here is about a frontier trader who moved through forests to trade with Indigenous peoples. This independent trader was known as a coureur des bois, literally “runner of the woods.” They traveled deep into the woods to trade furs, especially beaver pelts, and often lived among Indigenous communities, sometimes outside official colonial rules. The other terms don’t describe a person who roams the woods to trade; the Thirteen Colonies refers to settlements, ethnocentric means judging others by your own culture, and mercantilism is an economic theory about wealth and trade. So, the term that best fits the description is coureur des bois.