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...
by Nikki Rajala | Feb 4, 2019 | Voyageur
What’s a “voyageur”? Is it like a “voyager”? Voyageurs needed! Hardy men to paddle birch bark canoes from sunrise to sunset and haul heavy packs of trade goods or fur pelts over miserable portages. Even so, French-Canadian voyageurs were known for their...
by Nikki Rajala | Jul 15, 2014 | Voyageur
What were voyageurs paid in the early 1800s? Were there different skills that voyageurs needed? (Rachel, age 15) Good question. They received trousers and a shirt or two, a blanket, tobacco and food while working. And money — 400 livres (I’ll find out how much that...
