by Nikki Rajala | Dec 11, 2021 | Voyageur
Q: How did voyageurs celebrate Christmas ? A: Not like we do. Our favorite holiday traditions hadn’t been invented yet, so no Ho-Ho-Hos, no Santa, no tree or decorations, no cookies or concerts, no Nutcracker or Christmas Carol performances, no Grinch or...
by Nikki Rajala | Oct 31, 2021 | Voyageur
My novels focus on the voyageurs as they paddled from Canada. But what were French-Canadian villages like? At Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, we spent three days experiencing what one may have felt like. There were hundreds of take-aways. To give you a flavor, Jean Day...
by Nikki Rajala | Sep 25, 2021 | Voyageur
Beads were the smallest of the trade goods that the French-Canadian voyageurs carried. Tiny as they were, they packed a punch with color, sparkle and the myriad unique ways they could be combined. (I know — I love earrings and their pop of color and style.) Native...
by Nikki Rajala | Aug 20, 2021 | Voyageur
Have you ever done something automatically, not realizing it had amazing significance? Whenever my family headed from Bigfork to Grand Rapids, Minnesota, we took Minnesota Highway 38. Up through my early teens, I could recite all the lakes — in order — on that winding...
by Nikki Rajala | Aug 7, 2021 | Voyageur
SUNDAY, SEPT. 26 Reserve your own room at River District Hotel for the nights of Sept. 26-28 https://riverdistricthotel.com/ 608-326-7878, 130 S. Main St., Prairie du Chien, WI 53821; block of rooms is under Abby Marier/French Canadian Family Group. Rate is $129.99...
by Nikki Rajala | Jul 4, 2021 | Voyageur
In these post-pandemic days, wages and work are in our daily conversations. Both have changed, and bring up questions like: What work are people willing to do? What wages and benefits lure them to choose work? In the French-Canadian fur trade, from the 16th to19th...
