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2019 Rendezvous at the Straits: Voyageur Culture

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Join us for the annual Rendezvous at the Straits: Voyageur Culture on June 29-30, 2019 at Colonial Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan. French-Canadian voyageurs, known as voyageurs, were among the most colorful historic visitors to Michilimackinac. Try your hand at voyageur games, join in singing a rousing paddling song, and master the skills these hardy men needed to keep the Great Lakes fur trade moving.

Admission: Cost: Adults: $12.50; Youth: $7.50; Under 5: Free

Hours: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm both days

Location
Colonial Fort Michilimackinac
102 Straits Ave W
Mackinaw City, MI 49701
(231) 436-4100

For More Information: Call (231) 436-4100; Email mackinacparks@michigan.gov

Rendezvous at the Straits: Voyageur Culture

What is a Voyageur Rendezvous?
The French started trading in furs in North America in the 16th century, the English established trading posts on Hudson Bay in present-day Canada in the 17th century, and the Dutch had trade by the same time in New Netherland. The 19th-century North American fur trade, when the industry was at its peak of economic importance, involved the development of elaborate trade networks and companies.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title=”Read More”] This fur trade became one of the main economic ventures in North America attracting competition among the French, British, Dutch, Spanish, and Russians. Indeed, in the early history of the United States, capitalizing on this trade, and removing the British stranglehold over it, was seen as a major economic objective. Many Native American societies across the continent came to depend on the fur trade as their primary source of income. By the mid-1800s, however, changing fashions in Europe brought about a collapse in fur prices. The American Fur Company and some other companies failed.

In canoe-based fur trade areas, one type of rendezvous is associated with the voyageur and canoe-based fur trade business which was largely in Canada and the states in the US around the Great Lakes, especially in Minnesota and Wisconsin. These Voyageur Rendezvous were generally at a transportation transfer point within in a wilderness route that could not be traversed in one season run by and including the fur trade of only a single company. The transfer was the dominant reason for holding the rendezvous although they included other meetings and revelry.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]

Rendezvous at the Straits: Voyageur Culture

Who were the Voyageurs?
Voyageur is a French word, meaning “traveler”. Voyageurs were French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs by canoe during the fur trade years. From the beginning of the fur trade in the 1680s until the late 1870s, the voyageurs were the blue-collar workers of the Montreal fur trade. At their height in the 1810s, they numbered as many as 3,000 men. Hired from farms and villages of the St. Lawrence Valley, most spoke French and generally could not read or write. These men agreed to work for a number of years in exchange for pay, equipment, clothing and “room and board.” Most voyageurs would start working when they were in their early twenties and continue working into their sixties. Sometimes being a voyageur was a family tradition.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title=”Read More”] Hard working and tough, voyageurs provided the power to move the canoes forward, paddling at a rate of 40-60 strokes per minute, often 16-18 hours a day. They were also required to carry a minimum of 180 pounds on their backs, as both trade goods and furs were placed into standard weight bundles of 90 pounds each, and each voyageur was required to carry two bundles, though some carried even more. Twelve beaver hides paid the wages for a common voyageur for the year.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]

About Fort Michilimackinac
Fort Michilimackinac was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac; it was built on the northern tip of the lower peninsula of the present-day state of Michigan in the United States. Built around 1715, and abandoned in 1783, it was located along the Straits, which connected Lake Huron and Lake Michigan of the Great Lakes of North America.

Present-day Mackinaw City developed around the site of the fort, which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. The Fort Michilimackinac was relocated to the new Fort Mackinac (don’t get them confused) on Mackinac Island during the American Revolution, with some of the buildings moved across the ice in the winter of 1780-1781. The remaining structures were burnt to the ground.

Rendezvous at the Straits: Voyageur Culture

Mark your calendar today so you don’t miss the next Rendezvous at the Straits: Voyageur Culture at historic Colonial Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan.

Tags: Rendezvous at the Straits: Voyageur Culture, Rendezvous at the Straits, Voyageur Rendezvous at the Straits, Michigan Rendezvous, Michigan Voyageur Rendezvous

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IMPORTANT EVENT NOTICE
Unfortunately, due to increasing costs, Crazy Crow Trading Post will no longer be able to maintain the Event Calendar by updating or adding new events.
The pages will remain active for a time as there are a number of events with current information and past events that may help you contact the sponsors for new information concerning location, dates & times!
Please do NOT contact Crazy Crow about these events, except for corrections to events with 2020 dates that are incorrect. Email date corrections directly to eventcoordinator@crazycrow.com. PLEASE DO NOT CALL, as we have nothing to do with the events and have only provided the listings as a free service.
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