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| Dr. Brandão, Dr. Mann, Dr. Nassaney, and myself after Dr. Mann's lecture. Photo courtesy of Cameron Youngs. |
Hi everyone, this is Cameron again, and I’m a
senior here at WMU. This week I’m writing to you about a public lecture I
listened to a few weeks ago, given by a visiting archaeologist, Dr. Rob Mann from
St. Cloud University. The presentation was about his research about the North
American fur trade, but more specifically about the voyageurs and their pipe
smoking habits. To me this presentation was
really informative because it
taught me more about the voyageurs, their
occupation, their life ways, and the various dimensions that pipe smoking meant
aside from its leisurely connotations. Which is a subject that I have found to
be interesting, and it is my intention to share what I have learned with you
guys!
As many of you probably know, the voyageurs were
French Canadians who transported furs and trade goods along waterways, between
forts or trading posts to Native Americans, who exchanged the furs for the
European trade goods. But to the voyageurs, this was not merely just an
occupation, but a way of life in which they had a deep sense of pride.
Navigating along the rivers in the backcountry was dangerous and took its toll
upon those who had the grit to pursue such an occupation. The average life
expectancy for an individual that survived the day to day hazards was short for
today’s standards, and the typical voyageur did not live past their forties or fifties.
Their prowess in navigating the backcountry and braving the dangerous rapids
along their trade routes meant voyageurs were highly sought after by many fur
trading companies.
But what I didn’t know before this lecture, was
that being a voyageur was not just an occupation, but it was also a unique
class-based ethnic identity within the broader spectrum of French-Canadian
culture. Within the class-based hierarchy of the French fur trade industry,
most voyageurs would have occupied the lower echelons. This status hierarchy is
salient while glancing at the roles and seating placement of the voyageurs
within a canoe among its other occupants. Most voyageurs would paddle in the
middle and were designated as the milieau,
and thus they were at the bottom of the status hierarchy. And above them was
the gouvernail, which
translates to rudder, directing the boat at the back, and the avant in the front, who would lead the occupants in
call and response songs. But also, in the middle were the bourgeois,
who were the big wigs inside the fur trade business, and who traveled with the
voyageurs to and from the forts and trading posts. But, everybody in the boat
was subordinate to the bourgeois, and
fortunately, when the French were in control of parts of North America, the milieu could ascend upward in status to
the position of gouvernail or avant, and in some cases to bourgeois. And one way that this could
be done was through an individual's skill in singing and memorizing songs, who
could eventually lead the paddling pace and rhythms of the canoe. This is
one-way that work and leisure was blended into the daily lives of the
voyageurs, who could spend almost eighteen hours a day paddling.
Along with an individual’s skill in singing and
memorizing songs, pipe smoking was another aspect of how the voyageurs blended
work and leisure throughout their busy days. After 1763, the British expanded
their control over North America, and the French-Canadian voyageurs had little
choice but to work for British fur trading companies, who looked upon them with
disdain. Despite their contempt, the British continued to hire the voyageurs
because of their prowess in navigating and traversing the North American
waterways. And during this period, there was very little chance for upward
class mobility for the voyageurs. But, amidst their oppression, the voyageurs
were able to maintain some sense of control through leisurely pipe smoking
habits. As some of you may know, the voyageurs measured
the distances they had traveled in pipes. But what I didn’t know, was that they
were not smoking their pipes while they were traveling, but rather they used
their habit to control how often they could take a break. Which is believed to have lasted about ten
minutes for every two to six miles traveled. So, an activity that was strongly associated
with voyageur culture, which the British used to characterize them with as
lazy, gave them some sense of power over the oppressive forces that sought to
control every aspect of their day to day lives.
After hearing this from Doctor Mann, he began to
present archaeological data which corroborated with these activities. Since the
voyageurs occupied a maritime occupation, many of the artifacts associated with
them are found underwater, where some unlucky individuals either crashed or
sank their boat. But, one of the artifacts that was presented during the
lecture was a pipe bowl with the inscription “T.D”. And I immediately drew a
connection to my summer at Fort St. Joseph, because one of the artifacts that
my peers had uncovered, was a pipe bowl with the “T.D.” inscription (Figure 1). I felt
ecstatic after, seeing how Dr. Mann’s research made that connection to my time
excavating in Niles. I mean, we know that the site was occupied by people in
the past, because the materials are there, and the documentary sources tell us
bits of what happened, but this connection really made it seem real to me. The
voyageurs occupied a space which is now the city of Niles. In my mind, it
brought the past to life through making that connection to the object. And it
makes me happy to have had the feeling, and that I could share Doctor Mann’s
research with you all.
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| "T.D." pipe bowl fragment. Photo courtesy of Kaleb Kahler. |
Thank you for
reading,
Cameron
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