What did French voyageurs wear?
Voyageurs could be identified by their distinctive clothing. They often wore a red toque and a sash around their waist. The white cotton shirt was protection from the sun and mosquitoes. They also wore breeches with leggings and moccasins.
What do voyageurs wear in winter?
Because of frequent contact with water, voyageurs required quick-drying garments. Cotton, linen and wool were the fabrics of choice rather than animal hides. Voyageur attire generally consisted of a linen or cotton shirt, a pair of mitasses , a wool cap, moccasins and a hooded coat for cold weather.
What is France’s traditional clothing called?
Breton costume
Breton costume is the style of clothing worn by the Bretons (people in Brittany, the Celtic region of France) as formal wear or festive clothing.
What is a French voyageur?
The voyageurs (French: [vwajaʒœʁ] ( listen); lit. ‘”travelers”‘) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade.
What did a voyageur look like?
What did the voyageurs eat for breakfast?
One observer recorded that a voyageur’s daily allowance of food included no more than a quart of Indian maize and one pound of grease. On other occasions they had pemmican (a greasy dried-meat mixture), wild oats and wheat, and dried meat or fish.
What were the main duties of the voyageurs?
Voyageurs were independent contractors, workers or minor partners in companies involved in the fur trade. They were licensed to transport goods to trading posts and were usually forbidden to do any trading of their own. The fur trade changed over the years, as did the groups of men working in it.
How do the French dress?
Typically, Frenchmen would wear:
- A dress shirt over a clean pair of jeans, and leather shoes: this is fine for a casual night out.
- Ties are optional although a lot of Frenchmen wear them for work and when they go out.
- Parisian men prefer a long sleeve shirt, which they then roll up rather than a short sleeve shirt.
What ethnicity were most voyageurs?
French Canadian
Most voyageurs were French Canadian, recruited from villages and towns, like Sorel, Trois-Rivières, Quebec and Montreal. Voyageurs could be identified by their distinctive clothing. They often wore a red toque and a sash around their waist.
Did the voyageurs get paid?
The wintering voyageurs were paid once a year at Grand Portage, but they were paid in goods or in vouchers for merchandise from the company-run story. Because of the inflated prices at Grand Portage, the pay was worth only two-thirds of what it would have been in Montreal.
What food did the fur traders eat?
Their diet included biscuits, pork and beans, pancakes, dried peas, cornmeal and pemmican (dried meat that could be eaten fried, or even made into a stew seasoned with maple syrup or berries).
What kind of clothing did the Voyageurs wear?
Clothing was a way for a voyageur to display his wealth. The better-paid voyageurs, such as the hommes du nord, tended to be more flamboyant in their dress. Also, because of their closer ties with Native peoples, the hommes du nord were more likely to adopt Native styles of clothing.
Is the coureurs des Bois the same as the Voyageurs?
The coureurs des bois’ zenith preceded the voyageur era, and voyageurs partially replaced them. For those coureurs des bois who continued, the term picked up the additional meaning of “unlicensed”. Another name sometimes given to voyageurs is engagés, indicating that one is a wage-earning canoeman.
What was the social structure of the Voyageurs?
The final influence was the social structure of the voyageurs life. Since this group was limited to men, it was highly masculine. These men engaged in activities such as gambling, drinking, fighting; interests which were reserved for men of this trade.
What was the importance of the Voyageurs in the fur trade?
Value to the fur trade industry. The voyageurs were highly valued employees of trading companies, such as the North West Company (NWC) and the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). They were instrumental in retrieving furs from all over North America but were especially important in the rugged Athabasca region of the North-West.