I can examine ways of life in New France.
Important to know or do: How do stories and legends of the Coureurs des Bois and Voyageurs inform us about Francophone history, culture and presence throughout Canada? What do stories about the habitants tell us about Francophone history, culture and presence in Canada? Acknowledge the roots of Francophone identity and presence in Canada. |
The Coureurs des bois, meaning "runner of the woods", were active during the French Regime. They were small businessmen trapping fur animals and trading. French Canadian Voyageurs were the main labour force for the fur trade of New France. They paddled the canoes, and carried the supplies and fur bales over the portages for the fur trading companies. They traveled in New France and the interior of North America.
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Europeans traveling in the wilds had to create alliances with First Nations people who knew and controlled the waterways and transportation routes. The coureurs-des-bois needed Indian women to cook, prepare their food supplies for winter, make and repair their clothes, heal their wounds, and especially to make their moccasins and snowshoes, which were essential for travel. Some of these relationships created new family groupings. The children of these unions between French Canadians, and their First Nations wives eventually became the Métis Nation of Canada. Métis comes from a French word meaning mixed.
When the French king made laws forbidding trading by anyone except the monopoly company, many young men broke the law, and moved out into the wilds to trade for furs. They became known as coureurs-des-bois (runners in the woods), running, as it were, from the enforcers of the law protecting monopolies.
The Voyageurs, for their part, were hired hands. They were a bit like modern-day truckers. They were responsible for the transport of furs and of trading goods between the St. Lawrence Valley and the Northwest. At that time, their salary for six months was about three times higher than that of a man working on a farm for one year. |
They paddled upstream from Montreal to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. There were many rapids that only a light canoe could cross, and many portages where the canoe had to be unloaded, goods and canoe hauled overland, then reloaded to continue the trip.
Voyageurs worked sixteen to eighteen hours a day, paddling the canoes loaded with trade goods through fast-flowing waterways. It was hard work.
Their day began at 2:00 a.m., with a six-hour paddle until breakfast. Lunch was pemmican eaten in the canoe. Once every hour, paddling ceased and each man lit his pipe. They stopped for a smoke every 6 or 8 kilometers, so the routes were measured in "pipes". Paddling continued until well after dusk; when they made camp and ate supper.
Voyageurs worked sixteen to eighteen hours a day, paddling the canoes loaded with trade goods through fast-flowing waterways. It was hard work.
Their day began at 2:00 a.m., with a six-hour paddle until breakfast. Lunch was pemmican eaten in the canoe. Once every hour, paddling ceased and each man lit his pipe. They stopped for a smoke every 6 or 8 kilometers, so the routes were measured in "pipes". Paddling continued until well after dusk; when they made camp and ate supper.
The French Canadian coureurs-des-bois and voyageurs became known for their distinctive style of dress. A blue capote, a beaded pipe bag hung from a bright red sash, beaded moccasins and the inevitable pipe became standard items. The distinctive Métis sash, wrapped around the middle, could be used as a belt, a tow rope, or a fastening line.
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Information on this page was retrieved from https://cdnhistorybits.wordpress.com/2016/07/12/voyageurs-and-coureur-des-bois/ and http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_metis/fp_metis_origins.html