by Nikki Rajala | Sep 10, 2018 | Voyageur
What’s the red sash about? Were they always red? Did voyageurs wear sashes for any other reason than decoration? Could different brigades have matching sashes, like our team uniforms? Bryce, 16; Deenah, 15; Keira, 11 The colorful wide woven sash is truly a...
by Nikki Rajala | May 19, 2018 | Featured
It’s in my blood—I’m descended from voyageurs. Mom found listings of a dozen engagés, or canoemen, through genealogy research into her French-Canadian roots. My grandfather, a younger son of a younger son of a voyageur, told of his connection: His great...
by Nikki Rajala | Dec 16, 2017 | Voyageur
What are high wines anyway? Are they different from other wines? Why did voyageurs trade them, especially if they caused so many problems? (Kathy, adult; Mary, adult; Sullivan, 9) High wines is a fancy title for cheap, and probably high-proof, alcohol. High wines were...
by Nikki Rajala | Nov 22, 2017 | Featured
During my first Girl Scout canoe trip back in 1963, flipping our canoes and making the fewest number of passes across a portage (with only one girl carrying the canoe) was a source of great pride. We squashed loaves of white bread—that was before freeze-dried food—and...
by Nikki Rajala | Nov 20, 2017 | Featured
I’m an official voyageur and I can prove it. Here’s my certificate, awarded in the summer of 1963 while on my first Girl Scout canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Quetico Provincial Park. I recall the trip fondly (tho’ I’ve forgotten the actual...
