With the arrival of fur traders, traditional roles began to change among the Dogrib. Dogrib oral history tells us that, before the traders arrived, bands formed around a great hunter. This individual was chosen for his superior ability to lead and provide for the group. Generosity and a firm commitment to the welfare of the group were also highly regarded in leaders.

The arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company created new responsibilities for the chief. The chief now became a spokesman for the group and middleman between his followers and the fur traders. This new status for the chief was reflected in the title of Done kawi  (the 'people's trader'). There were other distinctions too: whereas trading chiefs like Bear Lake Chief traded almost exclusively in furs, others, like Behcho K'aawi ('Big Knife Trader'), traded only in secondary goods like dry meat and babiche.

The early twentieth century brought a wave of 'free traders' into the North, men who were not associated with the Hudson's Bay Company. This trend brought an end to the done kawi; individual entrepreneurs known as nae do ('buy-and-sell men') now received goods from competing traders in exchange for furs.