Indigenous population
Preface
At its height in 1755 the mission fort boasted 3,000 Onondagas, Cayugas and other Haudenosaunee people on the side of France under the control of Abbe Francois Piquet. In the 1750s, Montreal only had a population of 4,000. These desperate Indigenous nations had different modes of dress and personal adornment specific to their individual ethnicities and cultures. It is likely that because of the unusually mixed population at Fort de La Presentstion that there was much cross-cultural influence in how their personal adornment was presented. The French Catholic influence of Abbe Piquet and his subordinates would have likely influenced them as well. Catholic groups especially frowned upon Indigenous body modification practices. These cultural differences would seem subtle to our modern eyes so far removed from their time and place.
This study will be by no means exhaustive and unfortunately, due to the scarcity of images and written accounts in this time period and a lack of cultural knowledge on my part, we will be treating Northeastern Woodland Native Peoples as a monolith and I will discuss modes of dress and ornamentation generally.
Figure 1.A View of Fort La Galette, Indian Castle, and Taking a French Ship of War on the River St. Lawrence, by Four Boats of One Gun Each of the Royal Artillery Commanded by Captain Streachy by Thomas Davies, 1760.
https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artwork/a-view-of-fort-la-galette-indian-castle-and-taking-a-french-ship-of-war-on-the
The most important image to give an idea of the appearance of the Indigenous people present at Fort de La Présentation is; A View of Fort La Galette, Indian Castle, and Taking a French Ship of War on the River St. Lawrence, by Four Boats of One Gun Each of the Royal Artillery Commanded by Captain Streachy painted by Thomas Davies in 1760.
This is the only contemporary image I know of showing not only the fort but the people living there.
Several details become apparent, the majority of human figures are clearly indigenous and those who may not be are ambiguous at best. This mode of dress was the norm for Native people from throughout the northeast throughout the time period and this image should act as an exemplar of Native dress in this time and place.
Figure 2. Davies detail. Foreground man and woman.
The white or unbleached natural linen shirt and shift was the universal base garment for both indigenous and European men and women.
Commonly Native men are depicted shirtless in warm weather. Women are almost exclusively shown wearing a shirt or shift, occasionally they are depicted without a top covering but these images may be fetishized by European artists.
Covering the legs, wool or sometimes leather leggings were worn, everyone wore a loincloth, called a “breechcloth or breechclout” in modern parlance. In New France a breechclout and leggings was referred to as brayet et mitasses.
Indigenous women wore wrap skirts which came to at or above the knee. Although European manufactured cloth was the norm for Indigenous clothing for at least four generations both our man and woman in the foreground are probably clad in leather leggings, most likely adorned with quillwork, beadwork, and ribbon work and possibly moose hair embroidery.
Figure 3. Colonel Guy Johnson and Karonghyontye (Captain David Hill), 1776 by Benjamin West.
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.569.html
Similar adornment can be seen in this painting of Colonel Guy Johnson and Karonghyontye. Although after our time period, the general methods of adornment and modes of dress remained largely the same.
Back in the Davies image, on the foreground man’s right leg a garter can be seen that was probably fingerwoven. Fingerweaving was generally what is now referred to as “oblique weave” and could be plain or elaborate often involving multiple colored yarns, beads, dyed porcupine quills or dyed animal hair such as moose and deer. This was done in our time period by female Native artisans. Johnson and Karonghyontye wear similar sashes, straps, and garters.
Figure 4. This is an example of Indigenousoblique weaving from the 1700’s with red and blue yarn and white beads now housed in the British Museum.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Am1991-09-5-a-b
The woman appears to be wearing what is today referred to as a fur “robe” as opposed to a more common wool broadcloth “match coat” as worn by the man. In the image of Colonel Guy Johnson and Karonghyontye , Johnson wears a fur robe and Karinghyotye wears a match coat. Davies’ woman’s robe is likely made from multiple processed beaver skins sewn together but could have been bear or buffalo. The man is wearing a loincloth. The woman wears a blue wool wrap skirt edged with either yellow silk ribbon or gold metallic tape, each were common trade items.
The woman wears a set of trade silver bands wrapped around the long, singular braid at the nape of her neck. The braid would have been first wrapped in red silk or wool ribbon, today this is referred to as “clubbed” hair. This was an extremely common hairstyle throughout the indigenous women of the North East.
Here is a quote from Captain Pierre Pouchot’s memoirs on the appearance of Native women at the time of the French and Indian War:
"The women wear a petticoat, called a machicoté , made from a yard of blue or red cloth of the same quality as materials from Berri or Caracassone [France]. The hem is decorated with different rows of ribbons yellow, blue & red, or with English lace. The garment resembles a woodsman’s skirt. It is held up by nothing more than a strap around the waist. The chemise goes over the petticoat & covers it entirely. The women are laden with necklaces, like maidens in special finery. They are strings of porcelain beads at the ends of which are attached Calatrava crosses, thimbles, silver coins, falling below their bosom, which is almost entirely covered with them.
"They do not pierce their ears, like the men, but wear pendants made of little chains of brass or beads, which fall well down onto their shoulders. They wear their hair parted in the middle and arranged in such a way that it covers a part of their ears & is tied at the back in a tail which reaches down to their waist."
Figure 5. Photo by Wayne Peters.Old Fort Niagara, April 15 2020, Facebook https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02nMj4V3Z1hyHFEBcACdJP8re1mU1PaR5bMxdiqLWsq9sjH2GSYYFNQxUjxkJGyYaTl&id=242631579849&mibextid=qC1gEa
Modern reenactors at Fort Niagara portraying Indigenous women of the era.
The man in the foreground of the Davies image has the most common hairstyle for an Indigenous man now referred to as a “scalp lock”. A small braided or loose patch of hair at the top of the head adorned with what could be domestic fowl hackle feathers and/or imported ostrich feathers dyed with vermillion.
His ears are “distended”. This was an extremely common practice throughout different indigenous groups in the Eastern Woodlands. The body modification process began in early prepubescents and the entire outer lobe of the ear was slit, wrapped with silk ribbon and brass wire to shape it away from healing back into the lobe and could be filled with goose down decorations. In this case it appears his lobes are painted black and wrapped with feathers dyed red. Ear lobe piercing and distension would continue for indigenous men well into the early 1800’s although full lobe distension would fall out of favor as the 18th century wore on.
The man’s head is painted with purchased vermillion powder mixed with rendered animal tallow, bear fat was common. The black paint was likely home made from carbon in the form of “lampblack” pigment made from soot. Above his right elbow and on both wrists can be seen silver bands, an expensive trade item. Or some domestically made Indigenous shell wampum or glass beaded cuffs as seen on Karonghyontye in Figure 3.
Both figures wear elaborate Native made moccasins which would have been adorned with quillwork embroidery , bead work, silk ribbons,silver cones and dyed deer hair.
Figure 6. Moccasins, unknown maker, circa 1760. Museum of New Zeland Te Papa Tongarewa, Part of History Collection.
https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/148190
These moccasins are typical of finely decorated moccasins.
Our foreground figures' dress is elaborate and expensive which could indicate several things about them. It could be that they are meant to depict leaders or people with ceremonial roles in the La Présentation community. It could also simply be that the area was prosperous and the general population had access to nice clothing and jewelry. Davies may also have had his models dressed in their best clothing. People in the 18th century, broadly, valued social capital and would want to look their very best in public at all times.
Figure 7. Oil on canvass painting titled The Indian Family, by Benjamin West. 1761. From a private collection in England.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Benjamin-West-The-Savage-Chief-The-Indian-Family-1761-oil-on-canvas_fig5_352248687
This finely dressed couple painted in 1761 by Benjamin West are attired precisely as our foreground couple painted by Davies and matches Pouchot’s description.
Figure 8. Davies detail.
This Indigenous man seems very plainly dressed, a white shirt, a sash around his waist. His hair is probably loose and his head may be painted with vermillion. Not visible is his breechclout.The figure holds,maybe, a hunting spear and perhaps his catch. On his feet he wears moccasins.
This is a practical way of dressing during a hot New York summer and one I have imitated many times while portraying a French Canadian militiaman or milicean.
Figure 9. Paul Miller dressed as a milicean at Old Fort Niagara. Wearing a cloth around the head a simple white shirt, a sash with a leather “slit pouch” a breechclout and soliers de beouf or oxhide shoes in English. Photo credit Thomas Wojcinski, 2021.
Figure 10.Davies detail.
Our next figures appear to be two men wearing shirts. They may have red knitted hats called toque by French Canadians, a common trade item and a common garment in general in New France. So much so that it has become a symbolic garment for modern French Canadians in Canada.It could likewise be some sort of cloth or silk handkerchief tied around their heads. On their legs they seem to be wearing red leggings and on their feet seem to be moccasins. It looks to me like the person on the left has a red blanket or match coat and the person on the right has a fur robe or beige cloth. I will discuss the overlap of indigenous dress in French Canadian society later. Because of this similar mode of dress these figures could be European but the use of blankets as clothing, fur robes, or matchcoats indicates one is Indigenous.
Figure 11.Davies detail.
These figures show more of what we have already seen. Two men wearing breechclouts and moccasins with short scalp lock hair cuts. Two men with vermillion painted heads, trade shirts, possibly fur robes or matchcoats and scalp locks adorned with red feathers. One holds a metal trade kettle, they were generally brass or copper. The figures barely visible in the canoe seem similarly dressed. Two of the figures have no feather adornment in their hair and could be women.
Figure 12. A Plan of the Inhabited Part of the Province of Quebec, Watercolour and pen and ink over graphite on laid paper by James Peachey. 1785. Library of Canada. https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=2838046
Although this watercolor is on the extreme end of our time period being around 20 years later we see trends which remain in style. There are two women in the left hand side of the canoe, one wearing a wool hood on her head and the other wrapped in a blanket. The left hand woman wears a striped garment, perhaps a shirt or more likely a woman’s jacket also referred to as a “bed gown” or mantlet in New France and appears to be wrapped in a blue cloth around her legs. She is in the position of steering the canoe and holds a paddle. The two men wear white shirts, have scalp locks, the left hand man has his adorned, the one on the right is loose. All four figures wear some vermillion paint on their faces and in and around their hair. The men have quillwork straps, oblique weave fingerwoven sashes and the men and women have trade silver adornments.
The two figures on the extreme right sitting on the grassy knoll in the Figure 11. Davies detail show the mix of European and indigenous modes of dress well, a way of dressing that was unique to North America. The sitting figure wears a red toque, possible fur robe, white shirt, red leggings and moccasins or soliers de beouf. The figure on the right could be wearing a matchcoat wrapped around his shoulders but could also be wearing a hooded coat common in New France called a capote. He appears to be wearing no leggings but a small red detail can be seen around the waist which is probably a breechclout.
Similar hooded capotes can be seen worn by indigenous people in this image below: 
Figure 13: Tuerie des Castors aux flesches a armes a feu au harpons sur les Glacier ... La Cabane quel' on bien a pied sur L'Etang gelee. no. 5. Drawings of Canadian beaver hunting approximately 1730.Yale Library collections. https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2006014
These people are all wearing capotes showing another example of this ubiquitous garment on Native shoulders.
Figure 14. Detail beaver hunting. These figures wear capotes which look very similar to the man in blue in Figure 11. Of the Davies image. They may be wearing their hoods up or may also be wearing toques.
Figure 15. Davies detail.
The final figures appear to be wearing small black felt hats with cut down brims, or it could show hair, or cloths tied around their heads. The one on the left appears to wear a beige garment and the one on the right wears blue or gray and may have white breeches or trousers. These may be European sailors as sailors in the 18th century generally wore the same sorts of clothing. Akin to how we see flannel shirts, blue jeans, and boots as “work clothes” today. The level of detail however makes these particular figures rather ambiguous.
Figure 16. Detail. Joseph Vernet: Vue du port de La Rochelle, prise de la petite Rive, 1762, 165 x 263 cm, Musée national de la Marine, Paris
https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010056369
This is a detail from a circa 1762 painting of the port of La Rochelle in France but shows well the dress of sailors in the period generally. Brimmed black felt hats, a toque on one. All three wear jackets or sleeved waistcoats called mantlet in Canada. The man on the far left appears to wear blue trousers, the man on the far right appears to wear white trousers and the man in the center wears breeches. It is simply a guess but this could be the sort of clothing worn by the people in figure 15 of the Davies image. It is important to note that trousers in New France were almost exclusively worn by sailors and people aboard ships. They would not become ubiquitous among French Canadian men until after the end of the Seven Years war in America after an influx of British influence.
For indigenous people tattooing was a common practice among men and women of different tribes and nations. Although it isn’t shown in the Davis image which could indicate Catholic influence in La Presentation.
In his 2008 article Tattooing and Its Role in French–Native American Relations in the Eighteenth Century, Arnaud Balvay summed up Indigenous tattooing nicely and I hope he and you will forgive me for copying and pasting multiple paragraphs directly:
“A description of Native American tattooing attributed to the officer Henri de Tonti is typical of European observations: “These ornaments or marks of honor are not printed without pain; for a start they draw the pattern on the skin; then, with a needle or a small well-sharpened bone, they prick to blood, following the pattern; after which, they rub on the pricked place with a powder of the color asked by the one who gets that mark.”4
On the other hand, few of these colonial authors describe the patterns they saw on Native American bodies. We do know these tattoos repre- sented mainly fauna and flora. Snakes, lizards, squirrels,5 turtles, flowers, leaves and other natural elements such as the sun6 and the moon consti- tuted the set of tattooed patterns. Furthermore, the coming of Europeans brought about some changes in these patterns. When French representa- tive Diéreville visited Acadia in 1708, he saw many Amerindian tattoos with European-inspired patterns. He wrote, “They make all kinds of fig- ures, crosses, names of Jesus, flowers; anything in fact that may be desired, & these marks never come off.”
(Balvay, Arnaud. "Tattooing and Its Role in French–Native American Relations in the Eighteenth Century." French Colonial History 9 (2008): 1-14. doi:10.1353/fch.0.0008.)
Figure 17. Detail Benjamin West. The Death of General Wolfe, 1770. National Gallery of Canada.
West’s painting a decade later shows the kinds of tattoos Bougainville may have been discussing as well as common elements we have seen before such as a decorated matchcoat, fingerwoven strap and bag as well as the man’s hair and its decoration.
Canadian Population
It is unclear how many Canadians, that is, French people who were born in New France, were living in and around Fort de La Présentation at any given time. It is clear however that during the fort’s existence both indigenous people and European people were present. During the fort’s construction in 1749, at least 25 Frenchmen assisted to build it. Over the course of the French and Indian war Piquet’s Native warriors would have worked closely with French Canadian militia called milice in New France.
One of the best,and only, images of Canadian men and women in our era is The Votive of the Shipwreck at Lévis,1754.
Figure 18. Votive of the Shipwreck at Lévis, anonymous, 1754, oil on wood panel, 32.4 x 52.1 cm (courtesy Musée Historical, Basilique Sainte-Anne).
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/votive-painting
The men and women in this image wear exemplary clothing from the era. Note that European and Canadian men, like their Indigenous counterparts, were clean shaven. It would not be fashionable to wear any kind of facial hair in the region for another century.
The basic clothing for men from head to toe began with the toque, a red knit cap. Three quotes which speak to the commonality of the toque in new France compiled by Jeff Pavlik are:
“Most of them wear red woolen caps at home and sometimes on their journey.”
Pehr Kalm, Canada, 1749
“All Canadians speak the same French we do. Except for some typical words,…they have forged some such as tuque or fourole to name a cap of red wool.”
Jean-Baptiste d’Alcyrac, Canada, 1755-60
“ worn by such of the Canadians…a large, red, milled worsted cap.”
Alexander Henry (Elder), Lake Huron, 1761
A shirt of natural linen or cotton , a neckerchief commonly of silk or cotton tied around the neck with layers of gilet- sleeved Or unsleeved vests cut straight across at the waist, over that a mantlet or sleeved waistcoat reaching to mid thigh with breeches, stockings and shoes which could be European style lasted shoes, ox hide soliers de beouf or moccasins. Not shown in this image was the hooded capote worn universally by French Canadian men well into and beyond the 19th century.
Women’s garments began with a white cap, a base layer of a shift or chemise in French. Women had pockets, which were large bags that tied around the waist, sat on the hips, were worn over the shift and under the petticoats.
Typically elsewhere in Europe and New England women wore what are now called stays. Stays were a supportive undergarment that went over the shift but under the outer garments containing reinforcements commonly referred to as “bones” made from baleen- a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales. It seems that common women in New France may not have worn them often, perhaps only for formal occasions such as mass, weddings, funerals etc. Instead, they probably wore quilted vest-like undergarments, with or without sleeves, and with little to no “bones” akin to stays called jumps. Jumps or stays, however, were under garments and there is no indication that Canadian women would have worn them as outer garments unless working in extreme heat on their own plots of land or in the family home.
These garments were covered by a woman’s jacket or layers of jackets, referred to as a mantlet. Or sometimes with a looser version commonly called a “bedgown” today. The look was completed with a silk or cotton fichu or handkerchief in English, draped over their shoulders.
Figure 19. Detail of Votive of the Shipwreck at Lévis, Although in a terrible predicament we get a wonderful 3 sides view of typical Canadian clothing.
Over their lower halves not shown in the Votive painting would have been layers of pleated skirts, called “petticoats” in today's jargon. French Canadian women wore their petticoats short, to mid calf, compared to women back in France who wore them just at or above the ankle. Over the petticoats women would have worn aprons to protect their clothing while working, and more formal ones for public use which were decorative. Women would have worn stockings and garters to hold them up, tied beneath the knee. Also not shown in the image are the capes,often red, that Canadiennes would wear in the winter.
Jean Babtiste de Aleyrac described the appearance of Canadian women ending with a misogynistic bent:
“The Canadians have an extreme passion for brandy and smoking tobacco. It is a home practice to drink a big shot of brandy when waking up, and the same for ladies…The women are beautiful and spiritual. They wear skirts that scarcely go down the calves. The girls are pretty well kept, but once they marry, they neglect their grooming.”
The woman in the water on the left wears a white frilled cap, has a beaded necklace around her neck (probably a cross, saints medallion or possibly a rosary- although it is unlikely that rosaries served as jewelry under normal circumstances) a white fichu or handkerchief and a brown woman’s mantlet. The forearm length sleeves of the jackets show some frills likely from their shift sleeves.
The woman in the middle is dressed exactly the same but in blue. The woman on the right wears a dark jacket or “bedgown” with no necklace but also has a white cap and fichu. some wisps of hair can be seen poking out behind the woman’s heads underneath their caps, it is remarkable that their caps stayed on in such a situation.
The female figure in the center represents Saint Anne and as such is exempt from our historical
discussion.
Figure 20. Photo of Amanda Miller portraying a
Canadienne woman on the banks of Lake Champlain. She wears a straw hat,a linen cap with frills, a striped mantlet with a fichu draped over her shoulders, a black ribbon with a crucifix around her neck,a petticoat topped by a wool apron, stockings and moccicans. She is smoking an ever present pipe and has a typical tobacco pouch.
In 1753 kalm corroborates this image’s portrayal of the Canadian women:
“All the women in the country, without exception, wear caps of some kind or other. Their jackets are short and so are their skirts, which scarcely reach down to the middle of their legs. Their shoes are often like those of the Finnish women, but are sometimes provided with heels. They have a silver cross hanging down the breast. In general, they are very industrious”
Figure 20. Detail of Votive of the Shipwreck at Lévis,
In the votive at Lévis it is difficult to discern if the man on the left has no hat and his hair is depicted or if he is possibly wearing a kerchief tied around his head. He is clean shaven. He wears a red mantlet lined in white over a yellow gilet. He has a black kerchief tied around his neck over a white shirt collar. His ruffled shirt cuffs or perhaps just the bulk of his shirtsleeves pokes out from under his mantlet sleeves. He wears light gray or white breeches, white stockings and black shoes-likely typical European style shoes of the time period.
Figure 21. Detail Votive of the Shipwreck at Lévis,
The man on the right is clean shaven. He wears a red toque on his head. He may have a white handkerchief tied around his neck or it may be that his outer garment is open and the white shirt shows underneath. The gray or white upper body garment he wears is probably some sort of camesole. A gilet-like garment typically worn under other outer garments. He wears brown breeches, black stockings and black shoes.
Figure22. Drawn by Richard Short, engraved by James Mason. Vue de l'orphelinat ou du couvent des Ursulines, depuis les Remparts. Signed:L. c. below image, Drawn on the SPOT by R. Short Engraved by James Mason; b. c., Sep.r 1st, 1761, Published according to Act of Parliament by R. Short...ink, watercolor, laid paper, public domain. https://collections.musee-mccord-stewart.ca/fr/objects/39648/a-view-of-the-orphans-or-urseline-nunnery-taken-from-the-r?ctx=9e9d71055d6187595237b78b2c99f4ec116e6ab8&idx=3
In this engraving by Short and Mason we can see typical, common, Canadian clothing. These are inhabitants of Quebec City. Although 1761 is at the end of the scope of our study the general Canadian way of dress held consistencies over time since the early 18th century.
Figure 23. Detail Short and Mason.
In this image we see a typical Canadian Family. The man is clean shaven. He wears a toque, mantlet, breeches, stockings and shoes. Probably either soliers de beouf or lasted shoes. The woman wears a cap, the collar and cuffs of her mantlet reveal the edges of her shift, her petticoats are topped by an apron. She wears European style shoes.the child wears a gown which was common for both boys and girls in Europe and New France until the age of potty training was reached and boys would wear breeches and girls would wear petticoats like adult, typically between ages 2 to 8.
Figure 24. Detail Short and Mason.
This couple and their dog are likewise typically dressed. The seated woman wears a cap and fichu, a mantlet apron and petticoats complete the ensemble. The gentleman appears to be bare headed with short shorn hair. He is clean shaven. He wears a sleeved gilet or a short mantlet. He wears breeches with stockings and shoes.
Figure 25. ex-voto Notre-Dame-de-Liesse Rivière-Ouelle
Probably 1745, oil, anynomous.
One of the few images from the period showing French Canadian men wearing what can only be described as capotes is the ex-voto Notre-Dame-de-Liesse Rivière-Ouelle which resides in a remote church in Quebec.
Explained well in a radio Canada article ;
“The story told by Father Casgrain, it would be in fact that these three characters would have lost their way in the forest during the winter, following a compass which would have been inadvertently dropped in the snow. The two companions of the young man in prayer would have ended up freezing to death, and one of the two companions would have been his father. [This one] would have recommended to his son to invoke the good Blessed Virgin to be saved miraculously, by making the commitment precisely to offer an ex-voto if ever his prayer was answered, tells Claude La Charité, professor of history literary at the University of Quebec at Rimouski.”
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1351749/notre-dame-liesse-anonyme-peinture-ex-voto-nouvelle-france
The three men have long hair worn loose and are clean shaven. They wear black handkerchiefs tied around their necks, sleeved mantlet, breeches, leggings, moccasins, with capotes on top. These men are probably upper class if they could have an ex Voto painting commissioned for the church. Their capotes have deep boot cuffs characteristic of the first half of the 18th century and are well tailored with pleated side vents. They wear sashes to close the double breasted capotes that appear to be fingerwoven sashes of indigenous make with white beadwork.
Once again due to her supernatural representation, Mary the mother of Jesus is exempt from our historical discussion.
Figure 26. Detail of ex-voto Notre-Dame-de-Liesse Rivière-Ouelle.
The Capote, another iconic French Canadian garment that has been a staple of Canadian attire is unfortunately not often represented in art, though is mentioned frequently.
In addition to what was mentioned above one example stands out in particular and tells us a lot about what was considered publicly appropriate. Orders to milita captains by Monsieur de Noyan at the request of the parish priest of Varennes, 1756 ;
“(do not) let any militiaman come [to a religious procession] wearing only a mantelet and a tuque, when they are certain that these people have capots and hats at home.”
Figure 27. P.J. Miller’s attempt at recreating the contrast in dress that Monsieur de Noyan’s orders highlighted about appropriate clothing at a religious procession for milicean. Photo Credit Amanda Miller.
The capote was essential in the harsh Canadian winter and as a reenactor I can attest that it is not a garment I enjoy wearing in any other season. It is likely that by “hat” a felt cocked hat was intended. Again in my experience they are an impractical and cumbersome garment.
Speaking of French Canadians generally in 1749 Swedish naturalist Pehr Kalm observed:
“Many nations imitate the French customs; yet I observed, on the contrary, that the French in Canada, in many respects, follow the customs of the Indians, with whom they converse everyday. They make use of the tobacco pipes, shoes, garters, and girdles of the Indians.”
“Canadiens on the warpath or traveling for the fur trade adopted the breechclout of the Natives very early on to replace the cumbersome breeches… The shirt being quite long, the breechclout would completely disappear under it. Which may explain the fuss made by Bishop Saint-Vallier in 1719. Answering a complaint from local priests as he was just returning from France, Saint-Vallier was upset that his flock was going to work in the fields <<with only their shirts on, wearing no breeches and no underpants during the summer in order to alleviate the heat.>>.” This quote from the Gousse siblings in Costume in New France sums up the working, traveling, and fighting summer dress for Canadian men in New France.
The clothing provided to milicean by the French monarchy was essentially the clothing they would have chosen to wear anyway. d’Aleyrac, 1755-60 explained exactly what they were given “Those who go to war receive a capot, two cotton shirts, one breechclout, one pair of leggings, on blanket, one pair of souliers de boeuf, a wood-handled knife, a worm and a musket when they do not bring any. The breechclout is a piece of broadcloth draped between the thighs in the Native manner and with the two ends held by a belt. One wears it without breeches to walk more easily in the woods.”
Pierre Pouchot described their look this way;“…about sixty militiamen with a kerchief on their heads and wearing shirts and their backsides bare in the Canadian style.”
Figure 28. Anonymous, Habillement des Coureurs de bois Canadiens, no. 2, drawing, ca. 1730?, Yale University Library, https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2001154
The image of the Habillement des Coureurs de bois Canadiens, exemplifies the unique Canadian style described through the time period. It is either one person from three views or three people in one view. Each figure wears a double breasted capote which has simple buttoned slashed sleeves, tied shut by a sash around their waists with slit pouches suspended from them, they have shirts on beneath the capotes, two have no leggings or shoes and the one with the hood up on the far left wears leggings and moccasins.
This valuable image also shows Canadians smoking tobacco.
Smoking tobacco was commonplace for women and men in French and Native communities alike. Stone indigenous type and clay European pipes were both present. These people were rarely seen without their skin tobacco pouch and pipe.
Jean Babtiste de Aleyrac describes Canadian habits:
“The Canadians have an extreme passion for brandy and smoking tobacco. It is a home practice to drink a big shot of brandy when waking up, and the same for ladies. The men smoke a black stone calumet. The children of seven or eight years drink and smoke the same. A bottle of Brandy is done in a single sitting. With wine we do not make such debauchery. But one spends the whole day smoking; many have the habit of smoking in bed.”
A French engineer that visited Fort Michilimackinac in 1749 when speaking of the “French” families at the fort, he states:
“They prefer strolling around the fort’s parade ground, from morn till night, with a pipe in their mouth and a tobacco pouch on their left arm, rather than take the least pain to make life more comfortable... always carrying a tobacco pouch on their arm like an almuce.”
Figure 29. Stone pipe bowl or calumet in French. In Ticonderoga's Collections: An Introduction
https://fortticonderoga.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/59B49D80-4685-4F01-9FD0-464430583009
These Native style pipe bowls would have had wooden stems made from pithy local wood like sumac. Natives and Canadians manufactured such pipes at home.
Figure 30. Reproduction stone calument with wooden stem and leather “leash” made by Ken Hamilton
Tattooing was also common for those French Canadians who were engaged as workers in the fur trade called voyageurs. Especially those who wintered over in western trading posts where the indigenous population was higher than in the East. It is likely that Indigenous cultural influence and a desire to have their bodies easily identified if they were to drown while working contributed to this adoption of tattooing for this specific social class.
In October 8, 1758 Louis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville, aide de camp to the Marquis de Montcalm overall commander of French Forces in Canada described the Canadians arriving at Carillon {Known today as Fort Ticonderoga};
”…950 Canadians, and this detachment is composed of the good kind, almost all voyageurs. One recognizes them easily by their looks, by their size, and because all of them are tattooed on their bodies with figures of plants or animals. The operation is long and painful. The figure is outlined by pricking the skin with a needle and printed in by burning powder in the holes. One would not pass for a man among the Indians of the Far West if he had not had himself tattooed.” In other accounts tattoos of the body are mentioned but there are no accounts of Canadians with facial tattoos.
