Voyageur Life

Class Description:

In this human culture and history class, students will be assigned roles and become characters in an imaginary North West Company brigade in the year 1793. They will portage and paddle along Wolf Lake and set up an encampment. There they will learn some of the skills of the colorful voyageur, such as making gallette (fry bread) and tea, flint and steel fires, shaving a paddle and practicing voyageur games. Upon returning, they will learn their own futures, along with the role of the fur trade in the exploration and settlement of Minnesota.

Total time: 3 hours (2 1/2 hours outdoors)
Audience: 6-20 students, 4th grade through adult
Activity level: strenuous
Travel: 1 1/2 mile
Total uphill travel: 250 feet

Outcomes

Upon completion of the Voyageur Life class, students will be able to:

Describe the role of voyageurs, gentlemen, and Native Americans during the fur trade era.

Demonstrate paddling and portaging, singing and joking, feasting and fighting.

Demonstrate fire starting technique using flint and steel.

Use a drawknife to fashion wood into a tent stake.

Evaluate and choose aspects of a voyageur’s life to incorporate into their own lives.

Minnesota Graduation Standards

The Voyageur Life class will provide students with guided practice, in an authentic setting, to support the following Graduations Standards. We have chosen one to three “major focus” standards per grade level. Due to the holistic nature of environmental education, several other standards, not listed here, are addressed as well.

Task Management Skills: Perseverance, Teamwork, Resource Management, Safety.

• H.S. Inquiry: History Through Culture (A, B)
• H.S. People and Cultures: Human Geography (A, C, E)

• 6-8th People and Cultures: Geography and Culture (1 - 5)
• 6-8th People and Cultures: History and Citizenship (1, 2)

• 4-5th People and Cultures: Historical Events (3)
• 4-5th People and Cultures: Geography and Citizenship, (3c)

Wolf Ridge Curriculum Concepts

• The natural environment has many impacts upon human history and culture.
• Quality individuals make a quality team.
• Each lifestyle choice we make affects us, others and the environment.
• Different cultures hold varying beliefs on environmental issues.

Classroom Connections*

• Journal page download
• Pre-visit activities
• Post-visit activities
• Links to Voyageur culture information and activities on the web

*requires Wolf Ridge password