Hopewell trading networks were quite extensive, with obsidian from the Yellowstone area, copper from Lake Superior, and shells from the Gulf Coast.

Sites were usually located at rapids or falls where sturgeon come to spawn and ceremonies may have coincided with this yearly event.

It became part of a continent-wide trading network because of its strategic location at the centre of major North American waterways.

[5] Blackduck ceramics were notably better-constructed than Woodland period predecessors, with thinner walls and larger size.

[6] It was noted by Dawson that at the Wabinosh River site north of Lake Superior, late Laurel ceramics display some traits of the Blackduck and Selkirk traditions.