by Nikki Rajala | Apr 28, 2024 | Voyageur
Q: How DO you pronounce Michilimackinac? A: Here’s the short answer [so you won’t embarrass yourself in front of people who know]: (MISH-ə-lə-MACK-ə-naw) The area known to the Odawa Indians as Michilimackinac means “Big Turtle.” For...
by Nikki Rajala | Mar 29, 2024 | Voyageur
Q: Where do you get accurate information? (Or do you just make this up?) Q: How do you know it’s true? I’m always on the lookout for new info. During the pandemic, I attended Zoom seminars, like on how voyageur sashes were made (George Washington wore one...
by Nikki Rajala | Mar 3, 2024 | Featured
Readers have asked for maps of Andre’s travels. To make it easier to locate him, I included a map in Book 3. And because I love maps and perused them extensively while writing “Uncharted Waters,” I’m sharing my favorite sections of those maps, with...
by Nikki Rajala | Mar 15, 2022 | Voyageur
Have you been stymied in trying to figure out correct terminology to refer to our Native American brothers and sisters? In trying to be more respectful, we may not know which words to use. Among those in common usage are: first American, Native American, American...
by Nikki Rajala | Jan 26, 2022 | Voyageur
What voyageurs ate depended mostly on where they were — along the rivers, in the Great Lakes, at their wintering post or back home. In the earliest days, Radisson, Champlain, Pond and other French-Canadian explorers and adventurers hunted and fished — and traded with...
