by Nikki Rajala | Jan 10, 2020 | Voyageur
Get your stopwatch — how many ‘P” words that describe the fur trade can you name quickly? Kudos if you get more than 5 and a gold star if you think of 10. Well, actually there’s more than 17. Then compare your tally to this unofficial list....
by Nikki Rajala | Apr 21, 2019 | Featured
Imagine the array of specialty goods from 1800 — lace handkerchiefs, fragrant tea, violin strings, glass beads, printed calico, nutmegs, lacquered boxes, powdered vermilion, shiny knives and kettles — and feast your senses. Their uniqueness, their usefulness draws...
by Nikki Rajala | Apr 7, 2019 | Voyageur
Were girls ever voyageurs? Did girls go on the fur brigades? Amazingly, yes. If you figure in all the Native American women, there are countless thousands whose assistance was invaluable. If you’re talking European immigrants or Caucasians, a bare handful. To...
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 | Nov 11, 2018 | Featured
The tag on my website is “Nikki Rajala: writer, speaker, voyageur descendant.” So, who are those voyageurs I descended from? More importantly for you, might there be voyageurs in your family tree? Confession: I haven’t yet pored through microfilms of...
