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 | Mar 3, 2019 | Voyageur
Roadkill can become a beautiful, valued pelt. Yes, it can. And here’s how one incident played out: After hitting a small beaver on the road with his car, my dad had it tanned as a “made beaver.” FYI: From the mid-1600s for a couple hundred years, a “made beaver”...
by Nikki Rajala | Jul 3, 2018 | Voyageur
What was it like at a rendezvous? Could we still see what happened? Would it be safe for kids? (Taya and Brinn, age 13) In the 1800s, voyageurs celebrated for most of July at the rendezvous. After six weeks (or more) of paddling full-tilt from either Lachine with...
by Nikki Rajala | Apr 16, 2015 | Voyageur
How did fur traders know what trade goods to bring to Native Americans? What trade goods did they want the most? Why? What did things cost? (Zak, age 14) Thelma Boeder, a re-enactor with La Compagnie des Hivernants de la Riviere St. Pierre, has thought about this. At...
by Nikki Rajala | Jan 18, 2015 | Voyageur
How much was a beaver fur worth? What could Native Americans when they traded for their furs? What did they want most? What was worth the most? (Tyler, age 14) To answer these questions, look on the Resources page for “Value of One Beaver.” I’ve posted a list of some...