Voyageur’s Diet Anthony Hoang Tim Wang

WHAT IS A VOYAGEUR Voyageur is a French word meaning traveler and most of the voyageurs were French Canadian. Voyageurs were workers for the fur trade in the 1690’s to the 1850’s and traveled by canoes across the Pays d'en Haut which referred to north west Quebec, Ontario, the parries and south of the Great Lakes in America. The voyageurs travelled to Grand Portage delivering pelts and goods until 1803, when they started to travel to Fort William and usually returned to their families after a few months of travel, but voyageurs who worked the northwest Quebec route usually worked for a few years. The voyage was split into two sections, the Mangeurs de Lard would travel the first half and then handing the load over to the Hivernants who would then finally deliver the goods to it’s destination. Voyageurs worked up to 16 hours in one day and were expected to carry heavy weights and paddle 5o strokes in one minute. Voyageurs usually worked about six-eight weeks at a time for on of the two major fur trade companies either the Hudson Bay Company or the North West Company.

DAY IN THE LIFE OF A VOYAGER A voyageur’s day usually began at three in the morning without having breakfast until around eight when they would stop by a near by beach. While paddling, the voyageurs would sing songs to keep up the rhythm and would have a quick break so that the men could smoke a pipe. The voyageurs would then continue to travel until around two in the afternoon where they would have simple lunch which consisted of usually a piece of pemmican or biscuit and was eaten on the boat. Dinner consisted of peas and strips of pork or rubbaboo along with biscuits and were usually prepared the night before by the chef.

WHAT DO THEY EAT Voyageurs ate pemmican, biscuits, peas and stripes of pork , corn and wild rice, and rubbaboo. Pemmican was the main part of the voyageur’s diet along with biscuits. The voyageurs were only given two full meals each day which were the breakfast and the dinner. Rubbaboo was a mixture of peas or corn mixed with grease and flour or bread. An average voyageur would require around 5000 calories each day and had to be fed without spending too much time hunting, so ready to eat or simple meals were what were used to feed the men such as pemmican or biscuits.

PEMMICAN Pemmican comes from the Cree language, Pemmi meaning meat and Kon meaning fat. Pemmican was the staple food of the voyageurs due to it’s taste and high nutritional values in small quantities. Pemmican supplied the equivalent nutrients of 8 pounds of fish/fresh meat in just half a pound. Only four pieces were eaten for each 500 miles of travel, and because it was dried it could be preserved for up to 12 months. 400 pounds of fresh meat only supplied 55 pounds of pemmican, and they were usually prepared for the voyageurs at the forts or were acquired by trade with the natives. Pemmican can be made of bison, moose, caribou, venison or beef and berries such as chokeberries or blueberries were occasionally added for taste.

Rubbaboo Rubbaboo was a classic voyageur meal that consisted of peas or corn, grease from bears or beef, and flour or bread. Rubbaboo was created by the Algonquian-speaking tribes and grew popular with hunters and fur trappers. Rubbaboo provided a lot of the necessary nutrients that a voyageur would need along with a lot of calories to fulfill the voyageurs 5000 calorie diet. Rubbaboo was usually prepared by a chef who travelled with the voyageur the night before they would eat it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/08.htm http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/qc/lachine/natcul/natcul3.aspx http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/voyageur/ http://www.hbcheritage.ca/content/life-of-a-voyageur http://festivalvoyageur.mb.ca/en/fdv-inc/about-us2/history/