by Nikki Rajala | May 19, 2018 | Featured
It’s in my blood—I’m descended from voyageurs. Mom found listings of a dozen engagés, or canoemen, through genealogy research into her French-Canadian roots. My grandfather, a younger son of a younger son of a voyageur, told of his connection: His great...
by Nikki Rajala | Apr 14, 2018 | Featured
My sister Kris visited Winnipeg last year and presented me with this gift card from the flagship Hudson’s Bay Company store. Love the trademark stripes — and carrying it around. Then I realized, “How apt!” Because the fur trade popularized the system of commercial...
by Nikki Rajala | Feb 10, 2018 | Featured
I have a few more thoughts for my characters to get wild protein (from the U.S. Army Survival Manual): All trails lead to water. Trails may be marked with animal droppings and trampled terrain. Birds: Flocks of birds will circle over waterholes. Some birds fly to...
by Nikki Rajala | Feb 8, 2018 | Featured
The U.S. Army Survival Manual’s first chapter said, “With few exceptions, everything that grows from the soil or that walks, crawls, or swims is a potential food source.” WOW! Up to then, I’d only thought about plants. The book included useful tips on how to capture...
by Nikki Rajala | Feb 4, 2018 | Featured
Your quiz for today: Is either wild plant edible? Make a guess for each of the choices below. Your answer could be one or the other — or neither or both! Glad I researched this — I would have made big mistakes by eating some of these. 1. Cattail or Blue flag iris/lily...
