by Nikki Rajala | Feb 27, 2020 | Voyageur
Though I’m not much of a betting person, I’ve put money into raffles, Superbowl boards, pay stub poker pots and lottery tickets — and won! Most of us enjoy taking a chance on occasion. While casinos are a relatively new phenomena in the Native American...
by Nikki Rajala | May 5, 2019 | Voyageur
When I needed info on pensions for infirm canoemen, where could I find it? Luckily, a book by Carolyn Podruchny had just enough online to answer my question — and more. Her “Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade” had much to...
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 | Mar 24, 2019 | Featured
Peter Pond, a larger-than-life voyageur, is responsible for the deaths of three men. Death wasn’t uncommon back then, but murder was rare. And three of them? On the credit side: Pond is one of the founders — the only American — of the North West Companywhich...
