Food Storage (for Camping Events) #3 - Dehydrated Cinnimon Sugar Apples, dehydrated rice, and veggie stock

I decided not to post right away about my 1st attempt using the dehydrator a few days ago, which involved several bags of cranberries I found on sale at Woodmans, because I wasn't satisfied with the end result. I know one thing I learned, cranberries are horribly hard to dehydrate properly even if you mince them in the processor or blanch them on the stove. They turn it very hard and crunchy. I think they'll work fine in the pemmincan when I get around to making that. Right now they're in several small jars in my cabinet for short-term storage and experimentation. Maybe I'll look up some instructions on how to do cranraisins see if there's a middle ground to the drying process.

Today I started the veggie broth in the crockpot, prepping some rice to try dehydrated cooked rice to see how that works, and finally putting some cinnamon sugar apples into the dehydrater. I used my apple peeler/corer which worked pretty well, though struggled with these apples a bit I think because they were overripe. Maybe the galas don't work as well I don't know. It could be I just have a cheap peeler, and in that case I need to get something better when I can. I'll try some less ripe apples next time and see. I'll know by late tomorrow whether it worked or not.

Now back to the dehydrated cooked rice. I know it sounds a little odd, but I was watching some videos by some backpackers it seemed a cheap and easy way to create instant rice which I could just throw into dishes on the campfire to make them more filling, or rehydrate for a nice base for meals. Going to make some and then rehydrate a little to see how it tastes.

Tomorrow's exciting because as soon as the apples are done I'm going to clean out the dehydrator and prep it to make the powdered chicken stock. The stock from the two full crock pots worth of chicken has been chilling in the fridge for a couple days. I have already skimmed the fat off it once (got off nearly an inch of fat across the surface) and am sitting it in the fridge the 2nd time just to see if I get any more. It already has a very gelled consistency to it, but I'll cook it down a bit more just to be certain before placing it on the fruit roll inserts for the dehydrator.

Food Storage (for Camping Events) #2 - Period Pickled Eggs

Well I made 2 batches of chicken in the crockpot that were cooked so nicely they literally fell off the bone (yum!), and then used some apple vinegar to boil down the bones and skin to make stock. The stock is now cooling in the fridge so that the fat separates for removal before it is dehydrated. Once I dehydrate the batch, I'll post an update on that. if it works all have a great method to make chicken stock powder to take with me to camping events.

I began doing some research on medieval forms of preserving food since I'd like to have meals I didn't have to have a cooler and ice for that would last several days safely. Information on pickling popped up in knowing how much my family likes eggs, I figure that would be a place to start. Right now I'm just gathering notes on what I need since it'll be a couple days before I can actually do the pickling. It seems simple enough.

6 to 10 eggs, boiled and peeled (depending on the size of the jar)
1/4 tea. salt, cinnamon, coriander (the recipe calls for these spices, but the person doing it uses cumin instead of coriander. Knowing how well the 2 good together, I am thinking I should 1/8 teaspoon of cumin as well and see what happens)
glass jar ( I have a huge one that might work for this, might even fit his much as10 eggs, or I might just make a smaller batch and experiment with my half-gallon jar)

vinegar to cover (thinking to use apple vinegar for this)

I just have to boil the eggs, cooling them down enough to peel them. Then I roll the eggs into the spices (mixed up) and place them in the jar. I think just for the heck of it I might add some garlic and onions to the mix. Then I cover it all up with vinegar and put the lid on tight. The original website didn't say how long to let the eggs sit, but most the other places I saw said 2 weeks at least in the fridge before eating.

Easy Peeled Hard Boiled Eggs

Food Storage (for Camping Events) #1

Okay the school semester is over and I'm making plans for being able to camp with the kids at SCA events next year. I've traded with a friend for a modern tent (10 man, I traded a Doumbek for it). I still have to pick the tent up and make room to store it along with the rest of the camping stuff I'll be gathering over the next few months. Clearing out space in the attic over the next week or so. I have another friend offering me a couple cots. I've been gifted a lantern for outside (wood w/ candle) and an electric lantern for inside the tent (battery powered). Its a start. We don't have room to cart a lot, but I want to make sure we at least have what we need for my city kids to be comfortable and not cranky so more fun is had for all.

One thing I've thought a lot about is feeding ourselves there. One kid is a semi vegetarian (he eats fish only) and the other kid is a meat eater so not only do I have to consider their tastes/needs, I also have to find the best way to store the most (they are both around teen ages, so hearty eaters) without needing to use a cooler. I have been looking at several options. Dehydrated foods (hoping to pick up a dehydrator this week to start trying out some of this), vacuum sealing (I just bought a handheld sealer online along with attachments for sealing regular and wide mouthed jars), and pressure canned meats (need to get a good pressure cooker). With well stored dry goods, and along with the medieval spices research I've been doing (another post coming on that), I figure I should be able to have a good bit of versatility in my meal planning.

The first thing I think I'd going to prep is bases for soups and stews. For example chicken and veggie stock. Now I know I could just freeze them, but that would still required cold storage at events. For this reason I plan to experiment with making my own stock powders that I can just rehydrate as I need them. This is easy enough with the veggie stock because I can just dehydrate the veggies desperately and then mix them for powdering. The chicken stock option took some research because its need to be cooked to a liquid state and then gelled when cooled. I did find mention of removing the fat and then cooking the stock down to a paste that can then be placed on the fruit leather trays on a dehydrator. I plan to try this and see how it works. I'm a big fan of slow cooker meals so I have been looking at chicken recipes that I could later turn into batches of broth. I want to keep the broth simple so I can add whatever spices later I want to without flavors clashing. I found some good recipes for slow cooker chicken though I'd like to play with using more period spices then the recipes I've found call for. After the family is done with the chicken then I'll take to bones a make me some broth. :)

The best recipe I found was this one (see vid below) which uses apples as one of the ingredients which seemed much milder taste (I was thinking of the neutralish stock I needed for later) then the others which were using lemons. I don't have the chicken stock she asks for, but I do have some veggie stock left I think, so I'll just use that instead. I don't think I'm going to add the mushrooms this time. Thing #2 is not fond of them so since this is her first time having chicken this way best to add as many "preteen disapproved" things as possible. I'm also going to play with the spices a bit, maybe hit the Spice House today to get some of the period spices I've been wanting.

A People's History Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner - Documentary

I found a very cool documentary on Period food culture in England.

Identity by Design: Tradition, Change, and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses - National Museum of the American Indian

According to the book, Identity by Design, the decoration and design involved in Native American women’s clothing wasn’t just about looking pretty, there was symbolism in every choice they made in the creation of their dresses, as well as the clothing they made for their families. According to Rebecca Lyon, an Athabaskan/Alutiiq artist “Nothing is as personal as the clothes we wear. Clothing can be seen as the vessel that holds the human spirit.”

 Unfortunately for my research the above-mentioned book doesn’t go into Cherokee women’s clothing, but some of the useful over all information on clothing construction and design for the tribes I was hoping were close enough to the techniques used by my people so it would still useful information for my needs. One challenge I have come across even this text is the lack of artwork for clothing pre-1600s. Most of the drawings/paintings are group shots showing minimal detail in which people had very little to no clothing on. Unfortunately I cannot go around topless to SCA events, and most of the pictures of my own tribe in that time period looks as though the explorers visited these places during the warmer months, so very little example of the winter clothing worn. That said, some of the later period images are of clothing made the same way that people made it for generations, so as long as I am careful to avoid obvious changes made by later period exposure to non-natives, it should still be viable for my research.

As far as not having any Cherokee input when writing this book, I don’t know if that’s due to not having access to Cherokee artists for the project, or simply than not searching out slowly and art specialists from my tribe. The other tribes I know my people had contact with were the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and the Natchez, basically all tribes covering the southwest in precolonial America. Unfortunately, none of these tribes represented in this otherwise very interesting book. My goal was to look at the style of clothing and its construction, and see what similarities I could find, and that I could use.

There are several different types of dresses mentioned. The first is the side fold dress fit to be popular in the upper Missouri River Legion and the Western Great Lakes region of the northeastern plains. I know at one point my tribe stretched up that far so I wondered if they might have used this style of dress at all. After  studying the diagrams in the book and looking into my other clothing research images, I see no examples of the side fold dress among the Cherokee.

 The next style discussed was the two hide dress which seemed more popular among the tribes of the Plateau region from British Columbia into northwestern Montana. They mention Shoshone and Nez Pierce, as well as some Ute and Blackfoot use this style of dress. It wasn’t until after the Trail of Tears that the Cherokee and the Shoshone were close enough for regular contact. There is also a mention of the three hide dress which were used by both northern and southern tribes of the plains. This last one seems to have a bit of potential since it’s the most likely to have been viewed or the knowledge traded within the area my tribe is from. It involves two hides that create a skirt, and a third hide that makes a poncho or yoke top. The difference between the southern and northern versions is the North used more beadwork (I assume this made the dress warmer), in the South the top was more of a Cape the poncho. I assume by cape the mean it’s longer the back than the front because there still seems to be a front section.

 As much as I like this book I feel I need to try to find some comparisons to the techniques used within my own tribe for dressmaking to see how similar they are in style to the two hide or three hide dress variations. A lot of the mentioned Cherokee clothing I can find in other resources are the more modern cloth tear dress that is so popular among the Cherokee nowadays. That said I think I still found some useful information. I checked the white done skin dress made for me over 15 years ago that I thought I could possibly use for court wear and through what I learned in this book was able to identify it as a three hide dress. I’ll have to check the seams to see what shape they’re in, but it’s all handsewn using sinew, and I’ve already got some ideas on decoration that will not only be beautiful but will fit my personality and my inner spirit. Assuming it still fits me after this many years...

Update:  in the picture above is the dress with me in it. It seems as though fit though I imagine it will fit better with a better bra under it, and with some adjustment to the neck seems to ride a bit higher than I remember it riding. Most of the pictures in the book are not of somebody wearing the dresses, but the dresses on display, so hard to tell how the neck actually hangs on a person. All have to wait to get a better bra so everything is sitting properly before I make any adjustments to the neck if necessary.

Muromachi period

Okay going back to the research for my daughter's garb I think we've decided on being easy on ourselves and doing the Muromachi period. My daughter didn't seem too keen on the 12 layer royal outfits of the Henian period. I figure after spending two plus days researching the clothing of the period she wants her persona in, I should also gather some other info as well for her to get to know. 

What is the Muromachi period?  (thanks to the MMA)

The era when the Ashikaga family occupied the position of shogun (the clan occupied the shogunate for nearly 200 years). Rivalry between daimyo resulted in the Onin War (1467–77) and the collapse of the shogunate's power. This caused the Age of the Country at War, which extended from the last quarter of the fifteenth to the end of the sixteenth century.Despite the social and political upheaval, the Muromachi period was economically and artistically innovative.Contact with China, which had been resumed in the Kamakura period, once again enriched and transformed Japanese thought and aesthetics. One of the imports that was to have a far-reaching impact was Zen Buddhism. Although known in Japan since the seventh century, Zen was enthusiastically embraced by the military class beginning in the thirteenth century and went on to have a profound effect on all aspects of national life, from government and commerce to the arts and education.

Kyoto, which, as the imperial capital, had never ceased to exert an enormous influence on the country's culture, once again became the seat of political power under the Ashikaga shoguns. The private villas that the Ashikaga shoguns built there served as elegant settings for the pursuit of art and culture. While tea drinking had been brought to Japan from China in earlier centuries, in the fifteenth century, a small coterie of highly cultivated men, influenced by Zen ideals, developed the basic principles of the tea (chanoyu) aesthetic. At its highest level, chanoyu involves an appreciation of garden design, architecture, interior design, calligraphy, painting, flower arranging, the decorative arts, and the preparation and service of food. These same enthusiastic patrons of the tea ceremony also lavished support on renga (linked-verse poetry) and No dance-drama, a subtle, slow-moving stage performance featuring masked and elaborately costumed actors.

An example of a classy Muromachi Period lady, wearing a katsugu on her head Japanese

Painters of the Muromachi Period (1338-1573) The Chinese-art of ink painting was first introduced to the Japanese through trading during the Muromachi period. The first painters were the Buddist priests who taught Zen Buddism. They regarded these paintings as tools to spread doctrines. As they started to use painting as a medium in Buddism indoctrination, many art forms started to lose its Buddist quality, such as sculpture.

Famous painters of this period were Shubun (1500), Sesshu (1420–1506) and Josetsu (1425). Their inspiration was of landscapes. In this period, paintings on fusuma, or Japanese screen doors, started. Onkoku Togan was another great artist in this period. Inspired by Sesshu, his works include the fusuma paintings found in the Obai-in Temple in Kyoto. In this temple alone can be found 44 fusuma paintings done by him.

Boudicca

My son has shown an interest in Celtic as a persona for SCA, mainly based on his interest in the historical figure Boudicca. I am gathering what I can from him on her in hope of sparking further research ideas on his part.

Boudicca. Warrior queen (2003) [Subtítulos en español]

Killer Queens: Queen Boudicca, Part 1

Killer Queens: Queen Boudicca, Part 2

Ready to Send Out

Paperwork is ready to go.

Registering the name Diana Corva de Luna

This is my device

This is my badge

WOOT!

I finally finished my heraldic device (I hope.... I have two version, not sure which to use)

 

 and I finished the art for my badge...

Now I just have to make up my frikken mind between my name choices, so I can start the submission process *crosses fingers*

Armored Combat

Okay been a crazy week getting ready to go to my writers conference so not had much time to post. Spent the week penciling my first scrolls for scroll blanks for the barony. I did manage to make it to my first fighter practice today. Didn't do much fighting but did talk a lot about armor options for me and my son. I also was advised to read over the Northshield armored combat rules and I have been looking over sites with advice for women SCA fighter in particular. I know because I am small in stature with a short torso and a large chest I'm going to be hard to fit as far as my armor kit goes. I found a couple good site with advice and been going over them.

One good bit of advice was from House Lioness who says "A quick note on shields: if you have a medium to large chest, you may want to use a shield that has a curve around your body, rather than a flat shield. A curved shield can be held closer to your body and gives better coverage and protection. Trash can lids and toboggans are available with a curve (a slight dome-like curve)."

I have also been thinking of armor. I think I want to go to a hardened leather rather than lots of steel. Lighter and moves better with the curves of my body. This site has good instructions how to make that. I like the lamellar armor like Sir Valora is wearing in these pictures.

The fit and the style is just what I want (with added flair to better match my Native persona). Hamish (an awesomely helpful new friend from our local SCA group) showed me some boar hide today that would be amazing if we can use it to make armor like that. Crossing my fingers it can work. Not sure where to find it, just would be nice to use an animal hide my people actually hunted and that might work for armor.

A Memoir of Jacques Cartier cont... final voyage

In 1540 Cartier made his third and final voyage to Canada. I like to note this is four years after they last left Canada, and three years late on their promise to the people of the Donnaconna of their return. During this time the leader and the others brought to France were baptized and died there, saving one little 10-year-old girl believed to be the daughter of the chief of Achelaiy. Ten people never were able to return to their country. Even still the King of France sent Cartier again to Canada, it seems to search for riches he had been told of by the people before they died.

 When they reached Canada they told Agohanna (who had been appointed king by the Donnaconna) that their former leader had died in France, but that the others had stayed behind by choice due to marriage and would not be returning. The new leader seemed to take it well, or at least showed no sign of anger. They stayed with the people for a time trading gifts, and then the captain took two ships up St. Croix. A set up site for a new fort on the Cape Rouge River on the High Point now called Redclyffe. Here they farmed seeds from France to grow food in the fertile soil. The author also mentions them finding stones which they believe to be diamonds, as well as iron to be mined. He also found signs of gold. To my knowledge there is no diamonds been found in Canada sewage likely what they found was some sort of quartz which I know is more easily found in the area.

There is mention of the captain making a visit to the lord of Hochelay and leaving with him to boys to learn their language, as well as gifts to thank him for warning him of others treachery in the past. They met some other people on the way to Saguenay who sent with them four men do show the way. They met other people on the way that they gave gifts to, what they were later warned not to trust these people because they are people who think themselves of great strength (as I understand the author explaining it). They return back to the lord of Hochelay with found that all the people but one son and the two boys were gone. The captain is told that the leader has gone to Agohanna to discuss with to do about the Frenchman whom they dealt in fear. It seems at this point Cartier speak no more of the voyage, and fact the next section of the book relates to voyage by John Francis de la Rocque.

A Memoir of Jacques Cartier cont... end of second voyage

The crazy thing is even after the people saved their lives with a cure for scurvy the captain and the others still this trusted the people especially after them seeing their weakness. These people showed the Frenchman nothing but kindness every time they had an encounter, but it was never good enough. It seems the captain intended to take the Donnaconna back to France with them. The captain tried to get Taignoagny and Dom Agaya to help them do this, but it seems they warn the leader not to enter the Frenchmen’s ship. They got the leader to come in the fort at one point but Taignoagny called him out again. The captain ordered his men to take the Donnaconna by force and is great commotion. The Donnaconna and his companions were captured as the author puts it placed into “ safekeeping”. The people cried and screamed for their leaders return and the captain ordered their leader to tell them that after he went and spoke to the King of France he would return to them within ten or twelve moons. Apparently this moved everything over, after giving gifts to the leader’s wife and children they withdrew owing to their lodgings.

 The people returned the next day to speak to their leader and the Donnaconna told the captain to tell them he would return in 12 months and that he would bring the leader back his people. It seems that people believed them. Days later several more boats of the people came after speaking to Dom Agaya about the taking of the Donnaconna. Their leader said he was treated well and he returned in 12 moons. Each time people came they brought gifts, were given gifts, is uncertain whether the gifts or the words did the most to mollify them. It was many days later that the ship caring the Frenchman and their “guests” left the shores of Canada on their way back to France.

A Memoir of Jacques Cartier cont...Scurvy

It seems that the attempts of Christianization of the Donnacona and his people was met with limited success, so the captain told Taignoagny and Dom Agaya to tell them they would be back on the next voyage priests and holy oil for a proper baptism. It is very obvious at this point that Cartier has very little respect for these people or their way of life from their marriage practices down to the way they dress and the food they farm. He did mention that the people including the children were very resistant to the cold, this alone seem to impress him. He makes a lot of reference to the need of these people for change, and his desire to “tame” them. The text gets a bit confusing after this, there is reference to distrust of the leader as well as Taignoagny and Dom Agaya. There is a mention of the leader of another talent warning the captain the Donnacona one to take the three children they gave them. In fact the largest of the girls fled the shipped, so it is said the captain had the other children taken care of. It is unclear with the author means by “taken care of”. There is some conflict between the captain and the people, and eventually the Donnacona returns the girl to them saying that she left because some cabin boys beat her. Apparently the captain agreed to take her back and a tentative peace remain between the two groups. As an aside I have to say I am confused by the desperateness that people seem to have regarding pleasing the Frenchman, or the very least pleasing their captain. I’m unsure why they seem so desperate to please them, and because we’re seeing everything through an outsiders point of view there is no way to tell why the Donnacona does this.

The section after this is a lot of travel, talking about the land, the animals, and passing areas where people live but not interacting with them. Later on they mention friendly relations with some people, in conflict with others, which made the “good people” sorry and angry. They did reach the river Saguenay and traveled it, but found its depths did not work well with their boats. The people they meet make mention there are people dressed like the Frenchman in towns as they have a great quantity of gold and copper. They mentioned the river leads to several great lakes of freshwater, but no mention of the sea. They also mentioned a land where there is no ice and snow, with the people dressed in skins and furs like them, and who constantly war with each other.

 It seems in the month of December scurvy hits the people in the Frenchman’s fort, spreading across the three ships, after apparently hitting some of the people of the area as well. Many people died and were buried under the snow as fear of the unknown gripped everyone. The captain made the sick man work hard to hide their weakness from the people of the land, for fear upon seeing their weakness the “savages” would take advantage of the situation. Apparently they eventually found a cure when they actually bothered talking to the “savages”, seeing that Dom Agaya was well, they asked how he was cured. The people showed the Frenchman how using the bark of a particular tree would cure the sickness. Scholars argue whether it was white spruce or white pine the medicine came from, but the white spruce is supposed to be a better treatment for the scurvy.

Wood Slat Armor

More info/pics I found for the wood slat armor... Here is a great site with info

A Memoir of Jacques Cartier cont...Hochelaga and the Abnakis

The next place they visited was the heavy agricultural area that led into the town Hochelaga which was near a mountain the French named Mont Royal. This was actually an enclosed town that even had a gate for the single entrance into town. Cartier even sounded impressed by the defensiveness of the town. He also talks about the long houses, corn flour that they used to make round cakes which they bake on stones, the method they use to smoke there meat, and the fact that the most precious thing to this tribe are the shells they use for their wampum. Cartier describes the way they get the shells is by of someone who has been sentenced to death and cutting large gashes in their body. They placed the body in the bottom of the river where the shells live and leave it there for up to 12 hours. When they take up the body we are able to gather what they need of the shells that have grown into the gashes. Once again Cartier mentions that the women are very physically curious and touch the Frenchman without shame, very curious.

One of the oddest things was the leader (I think that’s who he was) started bringing sick people to the captain for the captain to touch and “heal”. Many gifts were given afterwards, a feast was had, and then some of the people led the Frenchman on the mountain. While there, their guides made reference to silver coming from the river, but said evil folks named Agojuda were there, and that they warred with each other all the time. The Agojuda’s armor was described as wood laced together by cords woven together. I found reference to Samuel de Champlain mentioning the Agojuda as well and in notes scholars said that judging from the slat armor mentioned this was likely the Ouendat (Huron). Cartier and the other sailors were hoping the mountain held copper, but the Abnakis (Abenaki) insisted that came from Saguenay. After the walk to the mountain Cartier and his men went to return to their boats and when the Abnakis saw that they were tired, they carried the sailors. When the French men left the people follow them along the river, seeming sad to see them go.

It wasn’t until several days later that Cartier mentions Taignoagny and Dom Agaya who came with many others to welcome them further down on what the Frenchman named the Whip River. Cartier seem to doubt the sincerity of the welcome. They insisted that the Frenchman come see the Donnacona who apparently were located in a different place than they had been when the sailors had visited before. The captain gave the men knives and other things of small value, and to the women he presented gifts of tin rings. While there the captain was also shown by the Donnacona the “skins of five men’s heads stretched upon wood like the skins of parchment” and were told the skins were from a group called the Toudamans who they were at war with, and who had unexpectedly attacked them. A group that just happened to be located at the place the Abnakis said that the copper came from. Saguenay. Looking into the Iroquois and armor they were, it seems more likely that the Toudamans wore actually of that group, so it is possible the term Agojuda may have meant Iroquois not Huron.

As a side note the mention of the wood slat armor is very interesting to me, and may require a bit more research as a possible option for my own armor. To my knowledge my tribe didn't wear any armor in battle, at least nothing that would fit the standards of SCA armor, so this would slat armor might be a possible solution. I have seen the wood slat armor mentioned before while doing research on First Nations, and the Russians were said to have some contact with people called the Tlingit who wore wooden armor. Here's an example of that I found...

Obi Research...

Okay my daughter has mentioned wanting to do a Japanese persona as well as a Chinese persona for SCA, and upon hearing this a friend gave her a tradition style pink silk kimono she had in her storage.   Outside of the lining of the inside which is musty spelling and heavily stained, it look in decent shape. I think a hydrogen peroxide wash should remove the stains from the ivory lining, and the outer layer looks in good shape. I did notice the layers look to be basted together which baffles me a bit. I'm not going to worry about that until I can see if I can salvage the inner layer or if its too staining and it need to be  taken off and redone.

The kimono did not come with an obi, but I should be able to make one easily enough. From what I can find out the traditional obi is4 meters long and 60 centimeters in width. The width is folded in half and the obi is wrapped twice around the waist and then tied in the back. Formal obi belts are made of a brocade or tapestry weave. The more pattern, the more formal is the basic rule. I found a couple vid on how to tie an obi, but more research need to be done so I know which we should use so my daughter can use her kimono for court wear.

DIY: Mini Crossbow

Thought I'd post the fun vid I found. Could be modified to be bigger, perhaps, but the small version
looks like fun


 

DvD: Explorers of the World; French Explorers final part - Lewis Joliet and Jacques Marguerite, also Sieur de La Salle… Steampunk Research?

I had debated whether to go any further since the stuff was now way off the cutting point for the SCA time range, but just in case I need this information for the steampunk stuff I do (or anyone else reading it needs it) I think I’m going to finish summarizing the information I gather from the DVD. The next explorers are a partnership of Lewis Joliet and Jacques Marguerite. Jacques Marguerite was actually a priest but turned out to be an explorer as well. He came to Québec Canada in 1666 (yes I get the irony of that number) and learned the languages of the local groups so he communicate more effectively with them, something he ended up being very good at. He ended up going west to a mission where he ministered to the Ottawa tribe. It was there he heard about a great river, the Mississippi, and decided he was going to carry his ministry there. Marquette befriended a man called Lewis Joliet who was born in Québec and had become a fur trader. When the governor of New France gave Joliet the job of exploring the Mississippi River in 1673, he allowed Joliet to bring Marquette along. In their journey they came across the Missouri River, and at the time believed it to be the Northwest passage to the Pacific French explorers had so long sought. But their job was the follow the Mississippi River which they did past where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi, all way down to the Arkansas River, claiming the land in the name of France as they went. Though they were supposed to journey to the end of the Mississippi River the natives of the area warned them that further down the river was heading into Spanish territory so Joliet and Marquette were forced to stop there. They couldn’t risk capture from the Spanish if they wish to return with what they had learned, including the fact that according to the natives the Mississippi opened up until Gulf of Mexico not into the Pacific Ocean. The explorer that helped the French to expand the land claims Lewis Joliet and Jacques Marguerite had helped to discover, was René Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle (now there’s a mouthful). La Salle was a fur trader who had a passion for exploration. The Seneca, part of the Iroquois Federation, taught him how to travel in any season, living off the land and carrying only dried corn as provisions. The government of New France gave La Salle permission to build a fort on Lake Ontario, Fort Frontenac, then he persuaded the king, Louis XIV, to give him the right to explore the area between Florida and New Mexico and to build forts to protect French settlers for trading. La Salle journeyed down the Mississippi and claimed everything there for his King, naming it Louisiana. That was in 1682.

DvD: Explorers of the World; French Explorers pt 3 - Samuel de Champlain

The next voyage by Samuel de Champlain didn’t happen until 1603, which is a tad off of the SCA time period range, but just in case I’m going to cover it anyway. One of the reasons it took so long for them to return was the war brewing between Spain and France. There was a new king on the throne, Henry IV, and he was the one who sent Champlain back to the New World, with far less resources than previous explorers had at their disposal. Because of lack of funds the king gave fur traitors a monopoly to encourage them to colonize the area. This was the core of the mission given to Champlain in 1603. I find myself wondering how strict the SCA 1600 cut off date is… whether there’s a bit of wiggle room to play with this time period. Anyway, back to Champlain.

 He had already traveled to places like Mexico, Cuba, and Panama where he built a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Champlain followed Cartier’s route up the St. Lawrence River to Québec before returning to France. He made 12 more trips after that to the New World to explore and to write about what he saw. As far as research goes this is a good sign because there might be a translated version of his journals like there is for Cartier. In his further journeys he traveled from Nova Scotia past Maine and to Cape Cod. Is believed if the French had not had a run-in with local natives in the area they might have built their colony there. If they had done that they would’ve beat the pilgrims by 15 years. They ended up building a colony near Nova Scotia called Port Royal. That became the first permanent French colony in the New World.

 Champlain did not establish his Québec settlement until 1608 which was an important location for the St. Lawrence River trade route. This was in the territory of the Huron and the Algonquin. Champlain was smart enough to know the only way the settlement was to survive was to make allies of his new neighbors. Further up the St. Lawrence was the Iroquois’s territory, and they were another matter. This tribe was the traditional enemy of the Huron and Algonquin. Champlain was wounded several times fighting the Iroquois because of his being allied with their enemies. He also traveled the Ottawa River into what is now Ontario and even as far is New York State. Explored, and colonized, and traded in these areas. I was pleased to learn that not only did Champlain draw excellent maps during his travels but he gave detailed accounts of his adventures and of the people he encountered which is another reason for me to try to get copies of his journals. Champlain explored northeast North America until his death in 1635.

DvD: Explorers of the World; French Explorers pt 2 - Jacques Cartier

The next part of the DVD is on the guy I’ve been reading the memoir of, Jacques Cartier. Like a lot of the other French explorers, Cartier was looking for silver and gold which was rumored the Spanish had found in the New World. Ships reached Newfoundland in 1534. The trader character mentions Cartier meeting the Huron and the 2 teenage boys (I thought they were men but apparently they were teenagers which I guess at that time teens counted as men to their own people and to the French) that Cartier took back to France, and who learned to speak French. The narrator states that the two boys were taken and that their father, the chief, only let a happen because there was nothing he could do about it. Cartier was sent back to the New World a second time by the King, who was still looking for a passage to the Spice Islands. The discovery of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River was not only a gateway to the content itself and into the Great Lakes through the other river systems, but it became an important travel method for trading later on. Through the St. Lawrence River they reached places like Québec and Montréal. With the intention to head back Cartier return to Québec where they built a fort to shelter them through the long winter. During that winter the crew was hit by horrible scurvy that made their teeth fall out, and might have died from it if the locals hadn’t shown them how to make a tea from the bark of a type of you tree, boiled to produce a medicine. It was foul tasting but in a week all the men that drank it were cured. The harsh winter killed off many of Cartier’s men, but if not for the medicine and the help of the natives it would have been a lot worse. The chief of the area told Cartier many stories about places rich with gold, so the Frenchman captured the chief and his two sons and took them back to France with him. The chief’s stories must’ve been convincing because the King of France sent Cartier back a third time in 1541. On the third voyage Cartier filled his crew complement with mostly criminals because it was so dangerous they were the only ones willing to volunteer to take the risk of trying to colonize the areas. The local fishermen and sailors other folks were perfectly happy up in the Newfoundland area coast so they weren’t interested on going further in. Cartier tried to take a smaller boat down the river to find this place of legend but he was not able to make it through the rapids before having to turn back. No long after he returned to the encampment a group of natives attacked them forcing Cartier and the survivors to flee, eventually boarding the ship and returning to France.

A Memoir of Jacques Cartier cont...More Huron and Journey to Hochelaga

The text gets a little more complicated after that, rather confusing in fact, but I would try to recount the events as explained best I can. They mention Donnacona again when they meet in St. Croix along with 25 boats loaded with people. That day the Huron people wouldn’t get the ship which made Cartier and the others suspicious. People seemed joyous, but Taigoagny and Dom Agaya did not. The captain asked the two men if they were going with them to Hochelaga and the men said yes. The captain left the ship with an armed escort of men, which didn’t sit well with the Donnacona. Things seem fine the next day when the Donnacona and a huge group of Huron feasted with them all outside the ship and small presents were given. It seems the Donnacona did not want them to go to Hochelaga. There was some mention of making Taigoagny a present to appease the Donnacona. The Donnacona even made a present of the daughter of his sister who was about 10 years old, along with two younger boys. There is the argument after that between Taigoagny and Dom Agaya, and Cartier refers to Taigoagny as having treason and malice. The children were taken on the ship (note to self to remember this for research) and there was a gunfire display for the pleasure of the people which according to the author was later used by Taigoagny to convince the people that the Frenchmen had killed two of the Huron.

Things turned bad after that. With the help of Taigoagny some the warriors dressed up like devils with huge horns, black-and-white skins, and faces painted black. Things get super confusing about then, so they bought a stolen boat, a performance related to the Huron trying to convince the explorers not to go on to their planned destination, but from what I can tell it entirely centered on Taigoagny and Dom Agaya who were now working together it seems. There was some mention of the Huron leader requiring a hostage be left behind, I guess to make sure they returned from Hochelaga. The footnote says it is believed the people didn’t want the Frenchman to go to Hochelaga because the visitors had given them such wonderful gifts they didn’t want to share the generous visitors with others.

When Cartier met the new group along the river they saw houses built all along the banks. These people were very friendly as well, and shared a large amount of the fish they had fished from the river they lived by with the newcomers for trade. The leader of this group also gave the captain a gift two of his own children, a girl about the age of 8 or 9, and a boy of 2 to 3 years. The captain accepted the girl but refused the boy because he was too small. Knowing how my own people value their children, I admit to being baffled at the idea of the leader of this group giving his own children to the strangers. This is the second time it is mentioned that a leader of the Huron has done this, and I find myself curious if this is a common practice. I can’t imagine what it was like for those children on the ships, far away from their people, their families, anything familiar. After this the explorers met a group of hunters, but no one else until they reached Hochelaga.

At Hochelaga they were greeted by hundreds of people, men women and children, who I assume are Huron since there is no mention of a recognizable difference between them and those Cartier and his men just left. Like all the rest the situations they were meeting with friendliness, acceptance, and a large dose of hands-on curiosity especially from the women and children. The captain gifted the women with tin and other “trifling things”, and gifted the men with knives. Once they reached the village itself there were gifts given to the leader of hatchets and knives, as well as some religious icons including a “memorial of the crucifixion” which the captain made the Huron leader kiss before hanging it over his neck. This interaction seemed to go extremely well.

DvD: Explorers of the World; French Explorers pt 1 - Giovanni da Verrazano

Taking a break from Cartier’s memoirs to check out a DVD I got from the Library called Explorers of the World; French Explorers. One I needed a break from the book. I don’t know if his writing is just bad, or the translation is faulty, but Cartier is is very hard to follow at times. The back of the DVD mentions how the French explorers established New France and claimed most of present-day Canada. They mention people like Jacques Cartier (St. Lawrence River area), Giovanni da Verrazano (the first European to sail into New York Bay), Samuel de Champlain (Quebec), as well as Lewis Joliet and Jacques Marguerite (Mississippi River Valley), and several others. This DVD series apparently has one on Spanish explorers and one on Vikings that I may want to check out at some point. The study guide is useful giving me a basic timeline of who went to where and when. I don’t know if they’re going to follow the timeline order as far as which Explorer is discussed when, but I guess I’ll find out. I apologize now if I seem to jump around a lot since this is mainly just taking notes from the video. 

Okay first warning to anybody planning to watch this video, its horribly cheesy. Is supposed for 5th to 8th graders, but honestly it’s a bit too cheesy for them I think. They have 2 kids walking from their school into some art gallery with portraits that talk to them like something out of Harry Potter. They did have a picture of a guy in some really nifty French trader outfit that’s got some serious possibilities towards Metis wear. He’s got some high moccasin boots, the puffy pants, what looks like a capote coat with minor fringe, and a simple belt. There looks like there’s some sort of shirt under his coat that looks like it has small lacing at the neck and what might be a bandanna on his head. Okay I admitted I notice weird stuff, blame the ADD. The guy introduces himself as Pierre Castor, a French trader from Montréal. He talks about New France which I had thought was mostly Canada but it seems is not only part of Canada but a good chunk of land in the center of the US right around the Mississippi River. I’ll have to check the dates, but Cherokee territory is in the section they note on the map. He mentions beaver fur was a very popular trading item in Europe, that everyone wanted a beaver skin hat or trim in their clothing. I know that beaver skin is very water resistant and not overly coarse.

He says that French exploration of the New World began with Giovanni da Verrazano. What amuses me is one of the kids mention that name doesn’t sound French, which was honestly the first thing I thought of I saw the name on the back of the DVD case. Apparently were both right. He was an Italian explorer working for the King of France who was looking for a passage through the New World east to the Spice Islands for trading purposes, something closer and easier to use than Magellan’s route. The French king at the time was King Francis I. The King was also concerned at the amount of land the Spanish were claiming on the southern end of North America into South America, and that the English had claimed the area up by Newfoundland  so I guess King Francis wanted his piece of the pie before all the good parts were taken.

Verrazano left France in 1524 and landed at Cape Fear, North Carolina. On hearing the location I was hopeful he encountered Cherokee there since I know that’s part of their territory at the time, but it seems he didn’t stop there he just sailed north up the coast. When he saw Pamlico Sound Verrazano thought he was seeing the Pacific Ocean since from the entrance to the waterway the land is completely invisible. He continued to sail north looking for passage through all the way up to Newfoundland. At this the actor playing the trader mentions there were some contact with the local peoples during Verrazano’s journeys. According to the teacher narrating the French’s purpose wasn’t conquest so the interactions with the people they met were far friendlier then other explorers. There is no mention here what tribes Verrazano encountered, but this is still positive news regarding my research on my persona, because it shows that the interactions happen with the French as early as 1524. I tried going online to look up what tribes he might’ve encountered, and the interesting thing I learned was that 4 years after Verrazano’s journey began he ran into some people in the islands around Florida and the Bahamas that happened to be cannibals and who ate him. I will point out the eaten by cannibals section was not mentioned in in this educational DVD. This means I need to do a little further research on this explorer to figure out which tribes he encountered during his journeys.