The first commercially important natural resource in the indian/english dynamic was:

Furs - A commercial fur trade in North America grew out of the early contact between Indians and European fisherman who were netting cod on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and on the Bay of Gaspe near Quebec. Indians would trade the pelts of small animals, such as mink, for knives and other iron-based products, or for textiles

An attractive economy.

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