The deerskin trade between Colonial Americans, Europeans, and Native Americans was an important trading relationship between Europeans and Native Americans, particularly in the southeastern colonies, engaging the Catawba, Shawnee, Cherokee, Muscogee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples. It began in the 1680s due to fashion changes in Europe and boomed in the 1800s when the beaver trade decline.[citation needed] It was a part of the fur trade, but less known since deer skins were not as valuable as furs from the north (such as beaver). Cherokee mainly traded their deer skins to the English, while the Shawnee traded deer skins to both the French and English colonies prior to 1760.
Deerskin was used to produce buckskin, as well as a chamois-like leather, used for the making of gloves, bookbinding, and many other things.[citation needed]