2018 marks the 30th year that I have reenacted the life and times of Lisette Laval and Daniel Harmon. What keeps me with her all these years? A great story.
The Harmon family's Cree, French, and Yankee heritage tells a compelling story that brings to life a less stereotyped and much richer account of the multicultural height of fur trade society, at a time when most of the boundaries of North America were still being drawn. Lisette's own story weaves continental themes of economic and political history into the intensely personal decision she made to return with her husband and their two children to his homeland, and to forever forsake her own.
The voyageur symbolizes adventure, travel, exploration and discovery. Lisette's life spanned the continent from the Canadian Rockies to Vermont and Montreal. Her enduring values of the voyageur's strong esprit de corps blend a respectful love of wilderness and freedom with the camaraderie of campfire, song, and paddle. Lisette Duval was a true voyageur, and I am proud to walk in her moccasins.