The Lenapé’s hunting practices changed with the introduction of the fur trade. After contact with Europeans, the emphasis on hunting began to shift towards the demands of fur production rather than prioritizing sustainability. Because of this shift in Lenapé hunting practices, the populations of beavers and other fur-bearing animals plummeted. Additionally, this change is credited as a reason for the loss of many skills and technologies due to the increased use of, and eventual dependence on, European goods. These trade networks depended on waterways used by indigenous people through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: