by Nikki Rajala | Jul 13, 2025 | Voyageur
“A Canadian, if born to be a labourer, deems himself to be very unfortunate if he … shall reach five feet ten or eleven, it forever excludes him from the privilege of becoming voyageur. There is no room for the legs of such people in these canoes, But if he shall stop...
by Nikki Rajala | May 12, 2025 | Featured
French-Canadian voyageurs had one signature piece of clothing — their colorful wide woven sash. Voyageurs exuded joy and verve. But, working on the lowest rung of workers in the fur trade hierarchy, they had few resources to express that lively style. Their shirts and...
by Nikki Rajala | Mar 2, 2025 | Voyageur
Near the end of “Uncharted Waters” (Book 3), André and his crew find themselves in a vast water meadow and can’t orient themselves. He despairs that they’ll never find Danny’s father in this wilderness. To pinpoint their location, André’s...
by Nikki Rajala | Aug 1, 2024 | Featured, Voyageur
“Je suis un homme du nord.” Not just any paddler could make that boast of being “a man of the north,” or full-fledged voyageur. He had to be baptized by a veteran canoeman. In “The Voyageur’s Highway,” Grace Lee Nute says that after the annual rendezvous, large...
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...
