DOCSLIB.ORG

Voyageurs-4Pp Cm.Indd

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Voyageurs-4Pp Cm.Indd By Marc Hequet Illustrations by Stan Fellows George and the Voyageurs In 1802 a teenage boy set off across Lake Superior to live as a fur trader in the wilderness. George Nelson was 15 years old and living in Canada when he got a job in the fashion industry. But he wasn’t going to work in the city. He was going to work in the wilderness, in what is now Minnesota. George’s employer, the XY Company, was in the fur-trade business. Because George knew how to read and write, he was sent to the wilderness to trade goods for furs. George kept journals, where he wrote about his first years in the fur trade. His life as a fur trader began in 1802. By then, the North American fur trade had been dressing Europe’s wealthy people for two centuries. Since the 1600s, November–December 2005 3 Six weeks after he left home, George arrived at Grand Portage. fur had lured European fur traders to They brought the furs, called pelts, hat cost 1 pound, 10 shillings, 6 pence supplies. He watched a dozen men the so-called New World. In Europe, to trading posts inland from Lake in England—about $125 in today’s U.S. called voyageurs take their places in the many fur-bearing animals were near Superior. There, fur traders exchanged currency. big Montreal canoes—five paddlers on extinction. beads, wool blankets, axes, hunting each side, a steersman standing in the But in the United States and Canada, rifles, and other goods for furs. Travel to Rendezvous stern, another man at the bow to guide furbearers were plentiful. Ojibwe and The fur most in demand was beaver. On May 3 in the town of Lachine near the canoe. George’s fellow passengers other Indians hunted and trapped Its stiff, waterproof hair was just right to Montreal, Canada, George climbed most likely included a Scottish clerk beaver, fox, mink, otter, marten, make into a cloth called felt for making into a 36-foot, 600-pound canoe loaded and fur-company agents from London wolf, deer, buffalo, and muskrat. hats. In 1800 a well-made beaver top with trade goods, food, and other or Montreal. 32 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer November–December 2005 33 George’s canoe and fi ve others pushed hard work of the French–Canadian off for Lake Superior. Ashore, people voyageurs. They were the freight waved and called out goodbyes. Th en haulers of the fur trade. A voyageur the travelers heard only the splash and was strong but small—ideally, 5-feet, spray of the paddles and the silent forests 4-inches because long legs wouldn’t fi t along the Ottawa River. well in a crowded canoe. Meanwhile, in the wilderness to the west, Voyageurs paddled 30 miles or fur traders at trading posts bundled the more a day—55 strokes per minute pelts they had acquired during the winter for 14 hours. They paddled before and loaded them into birch-bark canoes. dawn and sometimes long aft er dark. Then the traders and their voyageurs They stopped every hour or so to pushed their 25-foot, 300-pound canoes smoke their pipes, but breaks were into ice-cold streams and set out for Lake brief because the voyage was long and Superior. Ojibwe Indians also traveled summer was short in the north. Trade route and Grand Portage trail (inset): 8 1/2 miles post to post. to the big lake, which they called Gichi From Montreal, George and the Gami, where they traded furs and canoes voyageurs traveled up the Ottawa River for goods. All the travelers were bound for in Ontario, overland to Lake Nipissing, the same meeting place—Grand Portage down the French River to Lake Huron, After traveling 1,800 miles from Lachine to —for a summer rendezvous. overland at Sault Saint Marie, and fi nally onto Lake Superior. Grand Portage, George was glad to join the Long-Distance Paddlers George traveled a long way from George must have marveled at the his home and family. “My mother, summer gathering at the trading post. 34 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer November–December 2005 35 their paddles, but it was a dangerous clerks headed home. But George’s job moment. The steersman could have as a fur trader was to head inland by fallen overboard into the icy water. Or canoe with four voyageurs and set up the canoe could have capsized. a small trading post where they would George and the voyageurs sometimes spend winter. stopped to eat—but not for long. One traveler on the Great Lakes reported Long Hauls, Wild Rides seeing voyageurs take their canoe When George and his voyageurs came out of the water, unload it, fix a hole, to a waterfall or rocky stretch, or when cook breakfast, shave, wash, eat, reload they had paddled as far as they could the canoe, and start out again—in 57 go on one waterway and had to reach minutes! another, they stopped and carried George and the voyageurs ate corn, their cargo and canoe to the next lake peas, rice, and pemmican—dried or river. This overland carrying was buffalo meat and fat, sometimes mixed called a portage. with berries. They cut bites from sticks Cargo in the canoes was bundled in of pemmican, which tasted a little like 90-pound packs. A voyageur shouldered greasy beef jerky. Once in a while they one pack on his back and set another cooked pemmican in a stew. pack on top, with a tumpline strapped On June 4, 1802, George turned 16, around his forehead. After a voyageur huddled on a beach during a “furious lugged his packs uphill, he sometimes storm.” A few days later, the canoeists just threw them down the other side saw their destination: the big fortlike of the hill. post at Grand Portage. A portage was usually a few hundred Gichi Onigaming, the great yards long. If it was more than half a To portage, a voyageur shouldered carrying place, had been home to mile (a 10-minute carry), the voyageurs Ojibwe families for centuries. When dropped their packs at the halfway two 90-pound on his back and George and the others arrived, the mark and went back unburdened for packs XY Company agents delivered the a second load. trade goods and supplies. George saw Two voyageurs carried the canoe. strapped them with a tumpline. Indians, fur traders, and voyageurs Although the canoe was big, it was from the wilderness. The air was full of fragile. Rocks in the stream could my father,” he thought as he tried to the waves,” George wrote. “We would the smell of roasting game for feasting, easily puncture the birch bark. sleep on a cold beach at night. “My drive down as from the top of a high the glad cries of old friends meeting, Sometimes when voyageurs brothers and sisters! When shall I see hill.” Once a mighty wave knocked the and occasionally the angry shouts of encountered rapids—rocky stretches of them again?” steersman headlong into the canoe as he men threatening to fight. river with rapid current—they decided Sometimes he felt afraid. “It was reached into a pot for corn to eat. Other After a few weeks at Grand Portage, not to portage but to paddle. If they awful to behold the immense size of men quickly steadied the boat with the Montreal voyageurs, agents, and thought they could see and avoid all 36 Minnesota Conservation Volunteer November–December 2005 37 the Granite River, divers found 17 brass kettles, probably made in Great Voyageur Footprints Britain between 1785 and 1820. You can still paddle and portage the passages once traveled by the End of Season early Indians, explorers, traders, During the long winter at their and voyageurs. And you can follow wilderness post, George and the their footprints at several places in voyageurs fished, trapped, and hunted Minnesota: for food. Indian friends also brought Grand Portage National game to eat. But George and the Monument, a replica of the voyageurs sometimes had nothing historic post, on Grand Portage Indian Reservation, where white to eat but a vine called climbing pines reach 100 feet into the sky bittersweet. Cut into lengths and boiled and 200-year-old white cedars until the bark came off, one variety grow. Call 218-387-2788. produced syrup they drank. Savanna Portage State Park near George made a career of the fur trade, McGregor, home to the Savanna but the old way of doing business was Portage, a voyageur highway that passing away. So many beavers had been connected waters flowing to Lake trapped, they were disappearing from Superior and the Mississippi River. Call 218-426-3271. North America. A whim of fashion saved the beavers: Hat makers decided North West Company Fur Post near Pine City recreates the fur trade they preferred to use silk. in 1804. Call 320-629-6356. Today, the beaver population in Minnesota has rebounded. In fact, Sibley House in Mendota, built in 1838, home to fur trader and there are as many beaver in the state future first state governor Henry During George’s long winter at the now as there were during the early fur Sibley. Call 651-452-1596. n trade. V White Oak Fur Post and Learning Center in Deer River, wilderness post, Indian friends brought interpreters portray fur-trade Marc Hequet is a St. Paul journalist and characters. Call 218-246-9393. game to eat. Time magazine stringer. dangerous rocks, or if they thought against the rocks and sank.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Some Red River Fur-Trade Activities / by John Perry Pritchett
    SOME RED RIVER FUR-TRADE ACTIVITIES1 With the defeat of France in North America in 1763, the French fur-trading posts in the Red River and Saskatchewan valleys became idle. The continual stream of furs flowing through the trading houses of Montreal and Quebec ceased. About the year 1766 numerous Canadian traders, — Scotch, French, and half-breed, — motivated by the spirit of industry and adventure, made their way into the West following the old French trails. In less than a decade they had pushed their enterprises far beyond the French limits. Until 1784 the bulk of the inland fur traffic was in the hands of these independent traders. Unfortunately, the French license system of trading was put aside as incongruous with the principles of free trade. There were no legal restraints. The consequence was a cut­ throat system of competition, with all kinds of disorder and crime. Fraud, chicanery, and every concomitant evil were practiced to get the Indian barter. Spirituous liquors were freely and indiscriminately used. In spite of this state of affairs the unrestricted trade acquired great proportions and seriously encroached upon the profits of the Hudson's Bay Company. This company, by virtue of a charter granted by Charles II in 1670, claimed the " sole trade and commerce " over the territory bordering on Hudson Bay and Strait and all the country watered by the streams flowing into the bay. The Canadian adventurers had so advantageously located themselves in the " upland " country and on the sources of the rivers which led to the settlements of the Hudson's Bay Company that the company's trade " was in a great measure cut off from its usual channel.
    [Show full text]
  • 45 Miles? There Were Two Types of Voyageurs: the Pork-Eaters and The
    Courtesy Thomson Collection Collection Thomson Courtesy Trade goods and supplies were packed into bundles called pieces. A piece Dennis Gale, Portaging a Canoe, 1860 weighed about 90 pounds and was shaped for portaging (carrying canoe and cargo overland) and compact storage in a canoe. Cornelius Krieghoff, Indians in the Employ of the Hudson’s Bay Company at a Portage, 1858 Try to lift this pack. There were two types of voyageurs: Careful—it weighs the pork-eaters and the winterer. 45 pounds. The pork-eaters paddled the large Montreal canoes loaded with goods from Montreal to Grand Portage. At least once during every trip, voyageurs would In August they made the long trip have to portage. That means they had to carry back to Montreal loaded down with their fully loaded canoes past rapids or falls, or to the next big lake. A voyageur would hoist one, two, furs. They were called pork-eaters or even three packs onto his back—and each one because of their daily diet of salt pork was TWICE as heavy as this one! and dried peas. Winterers spent the winter at the post exchanging trade 45 miles? goods for furs. WOW: One portage, from Lac du Flambeau in present-day Wisconsin to Lake Superior, was an amazing 45 miles long. Can you imagine carrying 90 pounds or more on your back all that way? Bark canoes were light enough to carry, yet strong enough to hold heavy loads. And if it needed repairs, you could gather the necessary materials in the woods..
    [Show full text]
  • Fur Trade Society
    Fur Trade Society “Though many nations imitate the French Maurie, a 19th customs; yet I observed on the contrary, that century métis Interdependence the French in Canada in many respects follow woman of the Natives gained access to trade goods and allies through the the customs of the Indians, with whom they Potawatomi holds fur trade and the French gained allies to help them converse every day. They make use of the a parasol and maintain their network of settlements and posts. neckerchief while tobacco-pipes, shoes, garters, and girdles, of dressed in typical the Indians. They follow the Indian way of Potawatomi attire Natives participated in the fur trade and formed military making war with exactness; they mix the of the day. alliances with the French because they desired access to same things with tobacco; they make use of Courtesy Tippecanoe European trade goods and the French offered them the Indian bark-boats (canoes) and row them County Historical protection and assistance against enemies. These alliances in the Indian way; they wrap square pieces of Association, with Natives allowed the French to contain the English along cloth round their feet, instead of stockings, George Winter the eastern seaboard. Unlike the English colonists, the and have adopted many other Indian Collection. French did not occupy and settle large areas of land. Instead, fashions.”— Peter Kalm, Travels into North with Native cooperation they built a network of small America, 1749 settlements and posts in Native-controlled lands which depended for their survival on alliances with Native groups. Native technologies like birchbark canoes and snowshoes were Métis and Country Wives adopted by French fur Many voyageurs had intimate relations with Native traders from Natives.
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Life Hivernants: the Wintering Voyageurs
    Fort Life Hivernants: The Wintering Voyageurs 45 Who were the Hivernants? Hivernants were experienced voyageurs who would spend their winters at a fort in the Interior. These men were a tough breed, and considered themselves above the Montreal- based, seasonal voyageurs. The hivernants were a well organized, prideful bunch of men, who lived comfortably in the harshest of environments. The hivernants often distinguished themselves from a common voyageur at summer rendezvous gatherings by camping on different sides of the fort than the common engages. Hivernants were usually the men who constructed the forts they would live in. While still under the direct observation of the company clerks and investors, hivernants were granted a certain amount of freedom during the winter. Hivernants carved out an amazing existence in a harsh environment The average time spent in the Interior for a hivernant was 3-5 years, so they were very used to the unique lifestyle they had to develop by the time they were done with their obligation to the company. Many hivernants had families in the Interior. Cree and Ojibwe women became wives, and children soon followed. Even after the fur trade was over, many wintering voyageurs stayed in the interior to homestead. They started farms and carved out a magnificent existence in the face of danger and adversity. Many cities, like Winnipeg, Green Bay, and even Chicago owe their establishment to the voyageurs who never returned east. Forts became towns, and towns became cities. When, where, and why were the forts established? By now you should have a clearer understanding of who the voyageurs were and the important role they played in establishing trade routes throughout North America.
    [Show full text]
  • Labour Relations Among Bourgeois, Clerks and Voyageurs in the Montréal Fur Trade, 1780-1821
    Unfair Masters and Rascally Servants? Labour Relations Among Bourgeois, Clerks and Voyageurs in the Montréal Fur Trade, 1780-1821 Carolyn Pod men ny THE HISTORY OF WORKING PEOPLES in the fur trade has recently become a subject of concentrated interest.1 The publication of Edith Burley's Servants of the Hon­ ourable Country, which explores the master and servant relationship between Orkney workers and Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) officers stands as an important development in focussing attention squarely on the workers themselves, and demonstrates the extent of their power through insubordination and resistance. A Some broader studies of labour and capital in early Canadian history briefly mention fur trade workers, Such as H. Clare Pentland, Labour and Capital in Canada, 1650-1860 (Toronto: James Lorimer & Co. 1981), 30-3; and Bryan D. Palmer, Working-Class Experi­ ence: Rethinking the History of Canadian Labour, 1800-1991 (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1992), 35-6. European labourers first received significant examination by Jennifer S.H. Brown, Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Families in Indian Country (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press 1980). Native labourers have been subject to some examination by Carol M. Judd, "Native Labour and Social Stratification in the Hudson's Bay Company's Northern Department, 1770-1870," Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 17, 4 (November 1980) 305-14. Edith I. Burley, Servants of the Honourable Company: Work, Discipline, and Conflict in the Hudson's Bay Company, 1770-1879 (Toronto, New York and Oxford: Oxford Univer­ sity Press 1997); Philip Goldring first began to compile information on labourers in Papers on the Labour System of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1821-1900, Volume I, Manuscript Report Series, no.
    [Show full text]
  • Aquatic Synthesis for Voyageurs National Park
    Aquatic Synthesis for Voyageurs National Park Information and Technology Report USGS/BRD/ITR—2003-0001 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Technical Report Series The Biological Resources Division publishes scientific and technical articles and reports resulting from the research performed by our scientists and partners. These articles appear in professional journals around the world. Reports are published in two report series: Biological Science Reports and Information and Technology Reports. Series Descriptions Biological Science Reports ISSN 1081-292X Information and Technology Reports ISSN 1081-2911 This series records the significant findings resulting These reports are intended for publication of book- from sponsored and co-sponsored research programs. length monographs; synthesis documents; compilations They may include extensive data or theoretical analyses. of conference and workshop papers; important planning Papers in this series are held to the same peer-review and and reference materials such as strategic plans, standard high-quality standards as their journal counterparts. operating procedures, protocols, handbooks, and manuals; and data compilations such as tables and bibliographies. Papers in this series are held to the same peer-review and high-quality standards as their journal counterparts. Copies of this publication are available from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161 (1-800-553-6847 or 703-487-4650). Copies also are available to registered users from the Defense Technical Information Center, Attn.: Help Desk, 8725 Kingman Road, Suite 0944, Fort Belvoir, Virginia 22060-6218 (1-800-225-3842 or 703-767-9050). An electronic version of this report is available on-line at: <http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/pubs/center/pdfdocs/ITR2003-0001.pdf> Front cover: Aerial photo looking east over Namakan Lake, Voyageurs National Park.
    [Show full text]
  • Voyageurs National Park Geologic Resource Evaluation Report
    National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Voyageurs National Park Geologic Resource Evaluation Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2007/007 THIS PAGE: A geologist highlights a geologic contact during a Geologic Resource Evaluation scoping field trip at Voyageurs NP, MN ON THE COVER: Aerial view of Voyageurs NP, MN NPS Photos Voyageurs National Park Geologic Resource Evaluation Report Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2007/007 Geologic Resources Division Natural Resource Program Center P.O. Box 25287 Denver, Colorado 80225 June 2007 U.S. Department of the Interior Washington, D.C. The Natural Resource Publication series addresses natural resource topics that are of interest and applicability to a broad readership in the National Park Service and to others in the management of natural resources, including the scientific community, the public, and the NPS conservation and environmental constituencies. Manuscripts are peer- reviewed to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and is designed and published in a professional manner. Natural Resource Reports are the designated medium for disseminating high priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. Examples of the diverse array of reports published in this series include vital signs monitoring plans; "how to" resource management papers; proceedings of resource management workshops or conferences; annual reports of resource programs or divisions of the Natural Resource Program Center; resource action plans; fact sheets; and regularly- published newsletters.
    [Show full text]
  • Ojibwe Cultural Landscapes of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota by Andrew Labounty
    IN FOCUS: ARCHEOLOGY IN PARK MANAGEMENT 19 Ojibwe cultural landscapes of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota By Andrew LaBounty OR SEEING THE BIG PICTURE, enon to gauge tree height in 1927 and to so to speak, archeologists turn to diff erentiate bare earth from thick stands Abstract Faerial imagery. For examining cul- of vegetation in these black-and-white Appreciation and preservation of Ojibwe cultural resources are a major focus of tural landscapes over a large area, such photos. The simulated three-dimensional Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. view also made it possible to distinguish as at Voyageurs National Park in Min- Stereo pairs of 1927 International nesota, historical aerial imagery supplies pit features, buildings, and other Ojibwe Joint Commission aerial photography an incredible wealth of information. cultural features from natural variations in were compared to archeological site Although Voyageurs was not established topography. locations recorded over the last 30 years as a national park until 1975, the earliest to identify more than 250 historical features. These features reveal otherwise aerial photographs were taken in 1927 as a Digital, georeferenced copies of the 1927 isolated archeological sites as a system result of a fl ight conducted by the Interna- aerial photos were simultaneously created of contemporaneous and interrelated tional Joint Commission (IJC) to manage by the Minnesota Department of Natural occupations. Through the identifi cation the waterways between Canada and the Resources and overlaid with archeological of structural features and vegetation United States (Bullard and Scovil 1930). site locations provided and maintained differences, Ojibwe archeological sites are newly associated with one another by Under conditions of high water and inten- by the Midwest Archeological Center in trails, piers, portages, and other landscape Lincoln, Nebraska.
    [Show full text]
  • FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER Food
    COLORADO INDIANS – FOOD, CLOTHING, SHELTER Food What do these photos tell you about the food that these people ate? American Bison (Buffalo) This is a bison or American buffalo. Millions of bison once lived on the Great Plains of North America. In the 1800s, they were the largest animal native to North America. An average buffalo cow provided about 400 pounds of meat. That was enough meat to feed one person for at least 200 days. Buffalo Photo: Colorado Historical Society More About This Topic The bison lived on the blue grama and buffalo grass that grew on the plains. During the summer, when there was a lot of grass, the buffalo grazed in large herds. Some herds had several thousand animals. That was the best hunting season for the Plains Indians. The bison broke up into smaller herds during the winter, when there was less grass to eat. Their Own Words "From the top of Pawnee Rock, I could see from six to ten miles in almost every direction. The whole mass was covered with buffalo, looking at a distance like one compact mass....I have seen such sights a number of times, but never on so large a scale." Source: Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, May 1871, quoted in Donald Berthrong, The Southern Cheyenne (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963, p. 31. Drying Buffalo Meat The pole in this photo holds strips of bison or buffalo meat that are drying in the sun. Removing the moisture kept the meat from spoiling. Dried meat could be kept for several months.
    [Show full text]
  • Red River Trails
    Red River Trails by Grace Flandrau ------... ----,. I' , I 1 /7 Red River Trails by Grace Flandrau Compliments of the Great Northern Railway The Red River of the North Red River Trails by Grace Flandrau Foreword There is a certain hay meadow in southwestern Minnesota; curiously enough this low-lying bit of prairie, often entirely submerged, happens to be an important height of land dividing the great water sheds of Hudson's Bay and Mississippi riv,er. I t lies between two lakes: One of these, the Big Stone, gives rise to the Minnesota river, whose waters slide down the long tobog­ gan of the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico; from the other, Lake Traverse, flows the Bois de Sioux, a main tributary of the Red River of the North, which descends for over five. hundred miles through one of the richest valleys in the world to Lake Winnipeg and eventually to Hudson's Bay. In the dim geologic past, the melting of a great glacier ground up limestone and covered this valley with fertile deposits, while the glacial Lake Agassiz subsequently levelled it to a vast flat plain. Occasionally in spring when the rivers are exceptionally high, the meadow is flooded and becomes a lake. Then a boatman, travelling southward from the semi-arctic Hudson's Bay, could float over the divide and reach the Gulf of Mexico entirely by water route. The early travellers gave, romantic names to the rive.rs of the West, none more so, it seems to me, than Red River of the North, 3 with its lonely cadence, its suggestion of evening and the cry of wild birds in far off quiet places.
    [Show full text]
  • Fur Trade Voyageur Paddles from the Past
    Thank you to the St. Joseph's County Parks Department Paddles from the Past for this great learning Pre-visit packet packet on Voyageurs/fur traders. The activities in your pre-visit packet have been designed to help you prepare for your upcoming program here at the St. Joseph County Parks. The information in this packet will help you become familiar with what life was like during the fur trade era in northern Indiana. Who were the Voyageurs? Most voyageurs were French-Canadians. They were short men with strong arms and broad shoulders. They worked for the fur companies and paddled birch bark canoes over long distances carrying trade items and furs. They spent about 14 hours each day paddling rivers and lakes to reach Native American villages. A clerk, who traveled with them, traded silver, beads and other items for furs, which the voyageurs transported back to the trading posts. Portages were places where the canoe and its contents had to be carried around waterfalls or between rivers. Trade items and furs were packed in bundles called pieces. Each piece weighed 90 pounds. The fur companies provided the voyageurs with dried peas, or corn, and flour. From this they made pea soup and galette (a flat bread), which they ate twice a day. Voyageur Math 1. On average, a voyageur canoe would travel 17 miles per day. How long would it take to get from Montreal to Mackinac Island – a distance of 650 miles? 2. The largest canoes were called canots de maitres, and each carried two tons of cargo.
    [Show full text]
  • Pemmican: the Food That Fuelled the Fur Trade
    SECONDARY LESSON GRADE 9-12: SOCIAL STUDIES PEMMICAN: THE FOOD THAT FUELLED THE FUR TRADE Purpose: Students will explore the challenges faced by the fur 4. After showing the clip, ask students: traders and learn how pemmican became a reliable source of a. Do you think pemmican was made like this in the past? Why nutrition. They will examine the role of pemmican in First Nations, or why not? Métis and Inuit communities and outline how pemmican supported b. Why do you think pemmican was eaten by so many people? the fur traders. Students will also be encouraged to make pemmican c. What are the benefits of pemmican? at home. 5. Divide the class into three groups. Tell students they will be Estimated time: 90 minutes examining different perspectives of the fur trade by reading an article. Each group will read a different article: “Life in the Resources required: Wilderness,” “Aboriginal Peoples” and “Coureurs de Bois.” o How to Make Pemmican YouTube Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHkl8i97Mq0 6. After reading the articles, students will share and explain the o “Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site of Canada: content of each article with the rest of the class. Encourage those Cultural Treasure” article: who did not read the article being presented to questions to the www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ab/rockymountain/natcul/ presenters. natcul2/06.aspx o “Life in the Wilderness” article: 7. Next, have each student read the article “Rocky Mountain House www.canadiana.ca/hbc/stories/wilderness1_e.html National Historic Site of Canada: Cultural Treasures.” Instruct o “Aboriginal Peoples” article: students to answer the following questions while reading: www.canadiana.ca/hbc/stories/aboriginals1_e.html What role did pemmican play in their communities? “Coureurs de Bois” article: o o o How did First Nations, Métis and Inui People make www.canadiana.ca/hbc/stories/coureurs1_e.html pemmican? How did pemmican support the fur traders? Background Information: o The First Nations, Métis and Inuit People of Canada and Native 8.
    [Show full text]