This paper examines changes in the territorial occupation of the early contact period Chipewyan and their movement into the full "boreal forest in the l8th century. The environmental shift into a richer fur area was encouraged "by the fur traders of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest Companies, but the new environment required technological adaptations to be successful. These included learning to trap, different use of and another type of canoe, and use of muskets for hunting. The significance of the technological innovations are considered here.