DCHP-2

voyageur canoe Voyageur canoe DCHP-2 (November 2016)

• n. — historical, Fur trade

  a large birchbark canoe, traditionally used by voyageurs, coureurs de bois in the fur trade; canot du nord; northern canoe.

  Type: 1. Origin — Voyageur canoe is synonymous with canot du nord or northern canoe, having the same dimensions (20-25 feet) and having the same capacity for freight (1.5 tons). There is evidence (see the 1848 quotation) that the name voyageur canoe derives from the phrase "voyageur's canoe", i.e. a canoe belonging to a voyageur. Voyageur, which is a French borrowing translated literally as 'voyager' or 'traveler', came to be used in both French and English to denote a man working in the fur trade. Today, the terms are generally used in reference to Canada's historical beginnings. Voyageur canoe is most prevalent in Canada, but as fur trade routes often included parts of the present-day United States, the term has become part of the American historical lexicon as well (see Chart 1), especially in the Midwest and Northeast.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "voyageur canoe", which is marked "Cdn".

  See also: canot du nord  coureur de bois  northern canoe  voyageur (def. 1a)  

  • 1848  (1849)  At Penetanguishene, we procured a voyageur's canoe, and proceeded to Sturgeon Bay, from whence we continued on to the Narrows, by what is called the "Coldwater Road." 
  • 1966  One of the real spectacles of the centennial should be the Voyageur canoe pageant, a "re-enactment of the historic journeys made by fur traders, coureurs de bois over the waterways of our country." 
  • 1971  White water canoeing, the exciting sport of "shooting the rapids", is fast gaining popularity in Alberta thanks to the efforts of the North West Voyageur Canoe and Kayak Club. 
  • 1985  Cudahy said the mint has no specific design in mind for the proposed yellow coin, but he said: "It could be like the old silver dollars with the Queen on the obverse and the voyageur canoe on the other. "That hasn't been established yet, though." 
  • 1987  The heart of the celebrations centre on Fur Brigade Day ceremonies Monday at 1 p.m. at Fort Langley national historic park. This features the re-enactment of the arrival of voyageur canoes with rifle salute, pipe music and more. Celebrations and traditional entertainment is continuous within the fort palisades and the village. Don't forget the nearby B.C. Farm Machinery Museum. Saturday and Sunday there is also lots to interest families at the fort. 
  • 1988  There are three voyageur canoes -- not quite eighteenth century originals, but mighty good copies. Two are 36 feet long and one is 28 feet. Fourteen paddlers propel the smaller one, and the big ones handle two or three more. You are the paddlers. 
  • 1997  Using either traditional Voyageur canoes (big ones that hold 12 persons), Clippers (3-4-person capacity) or historic Fraser River fishing skiffs (flat-bottomed, hard to use and well, historic), tours head out on the river with a naturalist and a historian accompanying the tour in most cases. 
  • 2008  Participants will paddle 25-foot voyageur canoes during the trip and will traverse approximately 35 portages. A brigade in the fur trade era would usually have consisted of five to 50 canoes and 50 to 500 voyageurs, paddling to the rhythm of their rousing songs, in a display of stamina and will. 
  • 2016  Free rides in a Voyageur Canoe provided by the Rideau Roundtable group are available to all after 2:30 p.m., with a signed waiver from a legal guardian present at the "Pioneer Encampment" required for those under 18.