by Nikki Rajala | Dec 11, 2021 | Voyageur
Q: How did voyageurs celebrate Christmas ? A: Not like we do. Our favorite holiday traditions hadn’t been invented yet, so no Ho-Ho-Hos, no Santa, no tree or decorations, no cookies or concerts, no Nutcracker or Christmas Carol performances, no Grinch or...
by Nikki Rajala | Sep 25, 2021 | Voyageur
Beads were the smallest of the trade goods that the French-Canadian voyageurs carried. Tiny as they were, they packed a punch with color, sparkle and the myriad unique ways they could be combined. (I know — I love earrings and their pop of color and style.) Native...
by Nikki Rajala | Mar 19, 2021 | Voyageur
My question exactly. How do you figure it out? Or, backing up a bit: What goods were profitable? Early on, fur traders discovered they needed more consumable goods — clothing, blankets, other fabrics, vermilion and beads, powder and shot, tobacco and alcohol. Fabrics...
by Nikki Rajala | Feb 25, 2021 | Voyageur
I need your ideas for Book 4. (Help me, François and Françoise — you’re my only hope!) In Book 3 (in progress): Instead of paddling with Antoine’s brigade, Andre fears he must stay at home and sees his life and career disappearing. But he lucks out with a...
by Nikki Rajala | Nov 18, 2020 | Featured
At school programs, girls usually ask, “What about girls in the fur trade—were they ever ‘voyageurs’?” Oui, mademoiselle — but not as paddlers. Nearly all women in the fur trade were Aboriginal, invaluable allies who scraped beaver pelts, dried fish and...
