voyageurs
LES VOYAGEURS
(Words & Music: Mike Ford)
From the album “Canada Needs You - vol. 1” - MapleMusicRecordings
12 short men in a birch-bark station wagon
Stuffed to the gunnels for a six-week haul
Cuttin through the rapids and the waves like a water dragon
Bid farewell to Montreal (Adieu Adieu a Montreal)
Stroke by stroke up the Ottawa and Mattawa
The Nipissing and French into Georgian Bay
Sault Ste Marie by Michimilimackinaw
Lake Superior with hell to pay (Lac Superieur a traverser)
With a (belch) and a (fart) and a (hork spit clang)
And a (bzzzz slap) paddle all the day
En roulant ma boule dans un canot qui coule
La vie damnee des engages
LES VOYAGEURS LES VOYAGEURS
80 kilo packs on my back portagin’
Roots trippin’ up my moccasin boots
Sell my soul for a fire and a foot massage
A pipe and a game a’ Trivial Pursuits (Allumez la pipe au bout d’ la route)
Tump-lined wannigan, bug filled pemmican
Muskeg rum kegger rendezvous
Hard Tack tamarack do it over all again
Skeeters and the feeders an a salt-pork stew (les moustiques dans le ragout)
With a (belch) and a (fart) and a (hork spit clang)
And a (bzzzz slap) paddle all the day
En roulant ma boule dans un canot qui coule
La vie damnee des engages
LES VOYAGEURS LES VOYAGEURS
Skins of the martin, otter and rat - Racoon and squirrel and beaver top hat
White-tail deer and a lynx and a mink and a thin bark skin keep ta it outta the drink
White-water whirlpool fear run thru me
14 white crosses on the shore
Gift of tobacco for Gitchi Goomi
L’oeil de la mort sur les hommes du nord LES VOYAGEURS...
8
A Note By Mike:
“Like many padding enthusiasts, I can't help imagining the lives of Les Voyageurs while
on a canoe trip myself. Although the waterways may look similar, the means of transport
roughly the same, and the mosquitoes sometimes equally unbearable, the circumstances
could not be more different. For me, it's a long weekend of paddles and portages for the
sake of fun and exercise. For them, it was over 5 months of back-breaking and largely
monotonous labour. But they were, in a way, kings, free from the city and the farm. They
must have felt great pride in their Herculean prowess and specialized talents. I'm most
fascinated at how integral music was to their trade. It kept spirits up but also was the
defacto accelerator and speedometer - songs were used to measure distance, and gave the
Voyageurs a rolling score for tales of love and adventure.
Peter C Newman's Hudson's Bay Trilogy, the 2nd book of which, Caesars of the
Wilderness (Penguin) provides excellent historical scope and research relating to the lives
of the Voyageurs. A condensed and thrilling version of this is found in Pierre Berton's
The Great Lakes (McClelland & Stewart). For specific information regarding the building
of the Fur Trade Canoes, and their cargo, I recommend Jim Polling, Sr.'s The Canoe; an
Illustrated History (Prospero) and for a brilliant and epic lyrical take on this theme, I
highly recommend Superior Illusions (Natural Heritage) by Richard Pope.
Musicians and groups such as Tanglefoot, Gilles Vigneault have created wonderful
modern versions of Voyageur songs, and my personal favourite is La Bottine Souriante
and Michel Rivard's "Martin de la Chasse-Galarie" - their take on the famous French
Canadian Faustian Voyageur tale. (Found on La Bottine Souriante's La Mistrine CD)
In writing this song, I wanted to include many terms from French, Algonkin, etc that are
associated with the craft or the Fur Trade. I also wanted to include a few of the sounds
one is apt to hear when paddlers have been eating nothing but pemmican and beans for 6
weeks. Happy Paddlin'!”
Who were the Voyageurs?
(From Les Voyageurs du Quebec website:
http://www.milton.k12.vt.us/WebQuests/SChristensen/quebec_webquest.htm)
The Voyageurs of Quebec were the first of many immigrants to Canada. These hardy
pioneers came from France to live, hunt, and tame the forests and streams of a new
world. To these French-speaking immigrants, they were seeking to create a "New
France", just like English colonists were seeking to create a "New England."
These pioneers met many hardships such as hostile Indians, famine, and every
conceivable danger that nature could throw at them. The Saint Lawrence River (St.
Laurent in French) was the key to settling this new region of North America.
"Quebecois" (French speaking pioneers and trappers) relied on the St. Lawrence and its
tributaries to provide access to the rich interior of Quebec. Hunting beaver, fox, and other
animals for their furs, these voyageurs traveled deeper into the region. In the process, the
voyageurs helped develop a unique and different culture than the rest of North America.
This culture was predominantly a French speaking, Catholic, and rural population that
eventually was forced to survive in an increasing sea of Anglophones (English speakers).