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...
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...
