les Anglois |
the English, meaning employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, from either
Great Britain or Canada. |
avant, avant de canot |
top man in a canoe, who stood in the bow. Also seen
as devant and ducent. |
bâtard |
a bastard canoe, larger than the North canoe but
smaller than the Montreal canoe |
bois-brulés |
half-breeds, offspring from Indian mothers and white
fathers. |
bon |
a kind of currency issued by the North West Company
to its employees. |
bout |
steersman of a canoe. |
canots de maître |
the bigger canoes, 35-40' long, for lake transport, weighed about 600
lbs. Also called Montreal canoes. Usually had a crew of 8. Three of four
of these canoes made a brigade. Such a canoe carried 60 pieces of 90-100
lbs. each, 1,000lbs. of provisions, 8 men, and 8 bags of 40 lbs. each, a
total of 4 tons. Sir Alexander Mackenzie described the contents of one
such canoe: 8-10 men, plus their luggage
65 pieces
600 lbs. biscuit
200 lbs. pork
3 bu. peas
2 oilcloths for cover
1 sail
1 ax
1 towing line
1 kettle
1 sponge (for bailing)
gum
bark
waterage
(the last 3 itmes are for repairs.)
|
canots du Nord |
the canoes used west of Grand Portage, the North canoes. About 25 feet
long. |
ceinture fléchée |
the bright sash worn by a voyageur |
commis |
clerk |
cordelle |
to tow a canoe with a rope or cable |
coureur de bois |
a runner of the woods, an independent and usually
illegal operator in the fur trade during the French régime. |
décharge |
a place where a canoe and part of its load were
towed rather than carried, not quite a portage. This word was also
applied to the starting place of a portage. |
dégradé |
to go ashore to wait out a storm |
demi-chargé |
traversing rough water by unloading half the canoe
and making two trips over the rough place. See decharge also. |
engagé |
an employee, a voyageur |
engagement |
the employee's contract |
fil d'eau |
canoe course |
gouvernail |
the steersman in the stern of a canoe. Steers with a
sweep paddle. |
la grand rivière |
Ottawa River |
guide |
person in charge of a brigade of canoes. |
habillement |
a suit of clothes |
hangard |
a storehouse for merchandise |
hauteur des terres (de terre) |
height of land. The high land, full of small lakes,
that occupies the region between the drainage of Pigeon River, flowing
eastward, and the drainage of the Rainy River, flowing westward. |
hivermants |
wintering partners at the interior posts |
hommes du nord |
voyageurs who had been to the interior. |
hommes libres |
free men, not under contract |
manageurs du lard |
pork eaters, voyageurs from Montreal who did not go
beyond Grand Portage. They could not wear a plume in their hats as did
the hommes du nord. |
milieux |
common voyageurs, the middle men of a canoe. |
pays d'en haut |
the northwest country |
piece |
a package, weighing about 90 pounds, designed for the portages. |
posé |
1. a set pace when portaging, 2. a resting place, 3.
the distance between two resting places. |
sac-a-feu |
beaded bag, carried by a voyageur |
Saulteur liquor |
alcohol, or "high wine," diluted to suit an Indian's stomach. Generally
a gill or two of alcohol plus enough water to make one quart. |
watap, or watape |
a thread made of stringy roots of various
coniferous trees, used for sewing bark in canoe manufacture. |