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canoe, Grand-Portage, Louis Riel, Manitoba, Métis, Minnesota, portage, songs of the voyageurs, the beaver, The Canadian Boat Song

Shooting the Rapids by Frances Ann Hopkins, 1879 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Voyageurs
The voyageurs were the French-speaking Canadian boatmen or canoemen, who travelled in birch-bark canoes from Ottawa or Lachine, to fur-trading posts in what is now Manitoba and Minnesota, Grand-Portage being the main trading post.
- First, they had to short-legged. Being short-legged was important because they had to transport as much fur as possible relatively small canoes and much of the fur was stored under each canoeman’s seat in the canoe. There was very little room for their legs.
- Second, a strong upper body was an essential characteristic. They sometimes had to go from one waterway to another waterway and when they did, they carried fur (usually beaver pelts) and personal supplies on their back, bundles called bales, they carried on their backs, weighed more than 40 kilos (about 90 pounds), perhaps a conservative figure. And they also had to carry their canoe. These parts of their trips were called a portage (from the French porter: to carry).
- Third, they had to be good singers.
The Singing Voyageurs
Travellers to North-America, fur traders, employees and governors of fur-trading companies, such as the Hudson’s Bay Company, historians, and others often reported that the Canadien voyageur, sang as he paddled canoes filled with precious pelts.
Les Trois Cavaliers fort bien montés (The Three Well-Mounted Horsemen), a folksong, inspired Irish poet Thomas Moore to give it new words in 1804. It became the famous Canadian Boat Song.
In Kitchi-Gami [i], J. G. Kohl writes that “They [the voyageurs] were chosen men! The best singers in the world:”
C’était des hommes choisis ! Les plus beaux chanteurs du monde!
Le Portage
Portages were so difficult that the men often chose to “shoot the rapids.” At such times, I doubt that they sang. “Shooting the rapids” was dangerous and many men died. Alongside the rivers the voyageurs used to go from Lachine (Montreal), or Ottawa, the usual points of departure, to what is now Manitoba and Minnesota, there are little white crosses. The voyageurs left small white crosses where boatmen had die.
The Contract: voyageurs and coureurs de/des bois
We have to distinguish between the voyageurs who had a licence to work in the fur trade and those who roamed the forests without the proper permit, called coureurs de/des bois. As for the voyageur, he was a hired man: an engagé. But the coureurs des bois were adventurers. They roamed the woods without a permit and if they got caught fur-trading, they faced sanctions and the beaver pelts they had not sold were confiscated.
These men usually signed a three-year contract which meant that they often left behind, a wife and children to whom the earnings of the voyageur were usually sent. However, many men lived with Amerindian women or married Amerindian women. Their children were Métis.
However, some voyageur wanted to marry a French-Canadian woman and simply waited. Canada’s Louis Riel‘s grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière, went to Quebec to marry Marie-Anne Gaboury, the first white woman to settle in Western Canada. Their daughter Julie married a Métis named Louis Riel and they had a son they named Louis Riel. Several Métis remained in Manitoba, but the Battle of Batoche took place in Saskatchewewan. Many retired in Minnesota, USA. Those who did had usually been employed by the American Fur Trade company, founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808.
—ooo—
I will continue to tell the story of the voyageurs, but let this be the background. We have actually gone a long way. For the time being, I will continue to reflect on the fact that these men sang despite the dangers they faced and their isolation from their home.
© Micheline Walker 12 January 2012 WordPress _________________________[i] G. Kohl, Kitchi-Gami. Wanderings Round Lake Superior (London: Chapman and Hall, 1860). Available in paperback, with an introduction by Robert E. Bieder, under the title Life Among the Lake Superior Ojibway (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1985 [1860]).

The Beaver
i love learning about them –
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Thank you so much. Six years ago, I wrote a series of posts on the voyageurs, but they are almost new to me. The voyageurs and people involved in the fur trade are ancestors to the Métis, including Louis Riel. They are fascinating human beings. Their strength amazes me. I hope you’re well. I love you posts. Best.
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An engaging post, reminding me of your Louis Riel one. Les voyageurs in description seem like our Welshmen
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Louis Riel is a descendant of French voyageurs. Canada has a Métis nation, but there are Anglo-Métis. Anglo-Métis identity as Métis. Their origin is varied. They are not descendants of French Canadian, but their ancestors were involved in the fur trade. There were independent fur traders who background is varied. Moreover, when the Earl of Selkirk settled the Red River Colony, he invited people from various British or European nations. Many were Scottish, many were Swiss, disbanded members of the Régiment de Meuron and the Régiment de Watteville who were invited to stay in what is now Canada. In the Red River Colony, many languages were spoken, but it was a united colony. The Red River settlement was Canada’s first multicultural environment. I have edited (superficial changes) and will republish my voyageurs posts, most of which were written in 2012, six years ago. I suspect some voyageurs were Welshmen. One was black. I will also publish separately at least one part of “Louis Riel, Hero or Rebel.” Thank you for writing Derek.:-)
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And thank you, Michelle
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My pleasure Derrick. I have started to write a short post to let my readers know that the post published on 20 March is a continuation of Voyageurs posts and precedes posts devoted to western Canada, material I have not covered. Thank you Derrick.
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I read the book, The Voyageur by Grace Lee Nute this winter and it was amazing what hardships those men went through to trade in Northern Minnesota and Canada. I love reading about them.
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micheline: for an european this pictures of the “west” is an extreme sense of adventure mainly coming from western films … i dunno if i explain but … yes your posts are fine.
ciao.
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It was adventure but no one was killing “Indians.” These men were earning a living guided by Amerindians and marrying Amerindians. It’s not a “wild west.” Thank you for writing and ciao.:-)
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I appreciate the reply very much. Grazie and have a nice weekend and ciao.
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Your comment disappeared, but it was found. Thank you Rinaldo. Ciao.
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Thank you. Micheline
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