Gift-giving greased the wheels in the fur trade

Gift-giving greased the wheels in the fur trade

With snow flurries teasing us, and Christmas carols playing, and wreaths and decorations everywhere, I wonder about the voyageurs during this season. Mostly, they celebrated New Year’s with a dram or two, occasionally with a rival post (as I wrote about in a...
And heeeere’s Greg Ingram, fur trade re-enactor!

And heeeere’s Greg Ingram, fur trade re-enactor!

I meet the most interesting people whose passion is the fur trade. Greg Ingram is one, a member of the Fur Traders and Explorers, centered around Alberta, Canada. As a re-enactor, Greg has developed several first-person characters named “Gregoire” — from voyageur to...
Baptized — now a full-fledged voyageur!

Baptized — now a full-fledged 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...
Time travel back to the fur trade era

Time travel back to the fur trade era

When you visit historic sites — rendezvous posts where fur was traded — you can go back in time. All summer long, you can experience voyageurs’ lives with re-enactors sharing their skills. Enjoy period music, folk dancing, demonstrations of musketry and...
Making sense of Michilimackinac

Making sense of Michilimackinac

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...

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