The Voyageurs 

Some the toughest kind of real men there ever was, and they had no doubt of their manhood!

I love this short film these men were hard core I could not fathom paddling for 15 hours a day. I love canoeing and try to spend 5 hours during the weekend on the water and I am tired by the end of my outing. I love the work of the Mason family Bill, Becky, and Paul and their dear wife and Mom.

I showed this video to my Grade 4 social studies class today. (We're learning about the fur trade.) They enjoyed the songs and they liked the part where the voyageurs go through the rapids. Great video.

It's been almost 8 years since I first saw this documentary, and the song at the beginning is still deeply ingrained in my memory

Fabulous, way better than fiction. 58 years a Canadian, they don't make em like they used to.

I remember seeing this in fifth grade around 2 years ago. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it weren't for the panful hours of work I had to do, this was online school so I did the work with my mother and she made me squeeze every bit of information out of the video. but I am grateful that she did cuz I got a MIGHTY fine grade on the assignment.

Amazing. Saw them in Little Current. Had arms like tree trunks.

I always show this to my Canadian history class. I wish there were subtitles, though.

I've done the trip, the length of Superior with others in trade canoes...21 days to Thunder Bay. Got to the Fort in time for Dominion Day, and consorted with the local ladies for three days. Down to the American fort (what a joke) for the Fourth. Then up the Grande Portage, one trip was enough. Then up to the Height Of Land....and later, home. June/July, 1979.

One night the cast of this movie got wasted and broke a bunch of glass beer bottles while camping on Georgian Bay. In the morning producer Bill Mason made the crew clean up all the glass and garbage otherwise he would not continue on. He always set a good example

I chuckle every time I watch this when the one dude hops out and has a pair of Chuck Taylor's on, haha.

I'm sad to say that this beautiful film, these amazing men, you can't find many now days. cahoots to u guys who still go and play and travel like these

My school made me watch this

I used to watch this from time to time. Now I just listen to it every week. This should have 100 million views not 100 thousand. I wish I was a voyageur!

This is so amazing how you recreated the voyageurs in history to the present!

In 1967 i saw the re enactment of their Journey across eastern Canada...to the Prairies......a lot of paddling !

My school made me watch this,we’re not even Canadian…we’re American.

One of my favorites from the NFB.

Brings to life a song we New York schoolchildren sang about 75 years ago: From the wilds of the North / Comes the young voyageur, With his buoyant canoe/ Well laden with fur. Gladsome and free, / Little cares he, For there’s joy in the heart /Of the young voyageur.

two of my great great grandfathers were first cousins best friends and were voyageurs and their adventures were handed down.

The voyageurs are the heroes of Canadian history-what they went through is unbelievable. Men of steel and great skill. There wasn't a river they didn't conquer upstream and downstream and their paddles opened up the west.

I watched this 2 years ago at my school but it’s so good

thanks for the great memory of when i first saw this. i remember it each time i fish at french river!

I thoroughly enjoyed that film. Makes me want to go on a canoe for the day.

I remember watching this in grade 5. Man, I hated the teacher who showed the class this I am glad she showed it to us. Made a hell on an impression on me

Please don’t delete these videos. I need the nostalgia.

OJ Sixx Remember watching this in during the 70s s

Watching in the dead of winter in eager anticipation of upcoming summer adventures in the bwca of northern minnesota and quetico in southern Ontario!

"Good Stuff," merci.

this is my favourite video on youtube

I remember seeing this as a kid

Beautiful!

so helpful thankyou so much

ah, timeless. collapsing someones tent or, if it is a really light person, grabbing a foot and yanking them out into the morning sun. such wonderful fun.

EXCELLENT

EXCELLENT!

These were tough men!

Oui, merci.

such pride I have for the like as these.

loved it

Read “Astoria” for a great description of these sturdy and impressive men.

oh yeah! back then they totally had high-end glasses like that nice job kid

Remembered watching this in school on film not video tape I watched intently I did.

"How the men who are employed in this difficult navigation exist, without ruining their constitutions, is a mystery which I am utterly unable to explain. They are compelled, almost every hour, when actually melting with heat and fainting through fatigue, to jump into the water, frequently up to their arm-pits, and to remain in it towing the boast, until they are completely chilled. They then have recourse to the aid of ardent spirits, of which on all occasions they freely partake, and, in a few minutes, are once more bathed in perspiration" (Edward A. Talbot 1824). The voyageurs were the backbone of the NWC, moving furs and trade goods over a route that spanned 5000 km. Once the canoes were prepared and the goods packaged, the men set off from Lachine in May. They proceeded to St-Anne-de-Bellevue, where they attended religious services. It is from here that the men considered the start of their trip, as it was the last church to be seen on the island of Montreal. Today, the church of the town is still dedicated to the tutelary saint of many French settlers in Canada, the cult of which can be traced to the Normandy and Brittany of the Middle Ages. It was expected that each voyageur work at least 14 hours a day, paddle 50 strokes a minute and be able to carry two "pièces" of 90 pounds across each portage. Voyageurs suffered from drowning, hernias and broken limbs, twisted spines, rheumatism as well as clouds of black flies and mosquitoes against which the best repellent was a mix of bear grease and skunk urine. The voyageur's daily routine was a back-breaking one: for the 6 to 8 weeks he was on the road, he was roused as early as 3 am, and set off without eating breakfast. Before 8 o'clock, a breakfast stop was made on a beach. At around 2 in the afternoon, a midday lunch was served on the boat, though often lunch was only an opportunity to chew a piece of pemmican or "biscuit" while rowing. A stop was made for a few minutes each hour to allow the men to have a pipe. This event was so important that distances came to be measured in pipes: 3 pipes might equal 15 to 20 miles of travel. A 32 km lake would be measured as 4 pipes or 4 hours of travel, depending on wind and waves. At nightfall, the canoes were unloaded and turned over to serve as shelters. Supper, which was pre-cooked the night before, was warmed and served. The men dropped down on turf, moss or beach with their heads under the overturned canoes. A tarp provided protection from wind and rain. During the night, a kettle filled with 9 quarts of peas and water was hung over the fire, added to it were strips of pork. This simmered until daylight, when the cook added four "biscuits" and continued to let it simmer. At dawn, the call "lève lève nos gens", resounded through the camp. Canoes were loaded and launched. The swelling of the peas and biscuit had now filled the kettle to the brim, so thick that a stick would stand upright in it. Three pipes, or about 12 miles of paddling were done before breakfast. digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/08.htm

those dudes would in good shape after a summer doing this madness.

Because I like this video I'm compelled to say, the FilmBoard Rulz..or used to.

I watched this in school in Grade 5

thank you

Loving it. Great country! From Russia with love

Yay! Many thanks to the Squints in the NFB Tech Department for re-uploading this film. To all you folks who complained for years about the previous upload of this file being corrupted, maybe next time you may wish to send a note to the NFB, because I'm fairly certain they don't read RU-vid Comments on their uploads. It only took a couple days for them to re-upload the file here after I sent them a note about it not working. - Just sayin'

Good video. Thanks.

18:30....The amount canoes wrecked and goods lost is astounding! it happened alot.

These men were about 5 feet tall and carried loads that would cause any of us to rupture

These NFB films should be mandatory Canadain Content on TV even today.

For those of us who trace our ancestry to Quebec from the 1600's forward....

Merci.

The version of "Ma jolie rochelle" at the beginning is truly beautiful. Does anybody know where (if anywhere) I can find it on it separately?

Entrañable video. Saludos desde Spain river Ebro

Didn't realize at the time when i was doing the french River part 1981 including 450 lb canoes with 70lb packs when we portaged that i would look back and think just how lucky i was to do exactly described in this video

Français Du Sang. Thxs.

the music tho LOL

My school made me watch this as well

That intro song reminds me of a Clockwork Orange

that paddled all across Canada

THat's BIll Mason swimming while holding the camera over his head after they dump!

Love to know the song in the beginning

9:51 like they be carrying a lot of bags 😯

I had to watch it at my school learn about the French wizard

notice one voyageurs gold watch. lol.

I believe I may of seen this in school at some point,it look's familiar.

The bow paddler is Irwin 'Buzz' Peterson.

The heat in summer in the bush is unbearable! And to carry heavy endless loads of goods over rocky, tangled ground at a portage is unthinkable for the modern man! He'd crack in less than an hour!

Cool

My Family has documentation that our first ancestors to New France Jeanne Daigle was a Voyager. We also have documentation that he made at least on voyage with Raddison of Hudson Bay Co fame.

Same

What is the name of the fiddle/accordion tune that starts around 14:00 and goes for about a minute?

anyone else watching this for a school assignment? lol

Does anyone have any information on the music and songs used in this documentary? Thank you

" Such is their misery that they literally run with their loads" if you can't relate to that go to BWCA or Quetico or anywhere in northern Wisconsin with a long portage and you'll know why!

I think that's Lord Stanley's Keg being passed around at about 14:30.

We watch this on my school in social studies

Wow

The very first North-American heroes are those French fur traders and explorers who went down to the Mississipi and as far as the Rockies. They knew how to deal with the natives. Daniel Boon and Davie Crocket are just kids compared to them.

I am gobsmacked that they can do 70 miles in a day, minus portages.

im watching this for school please help

Me too

This is why modern society seems to suck so much; we don't all get a mid-morning spirit break.

Whats the name of the song from 7:53 to 8:54?

hey class

Artist: ayo new song just dropped The song: 0:24

They some modern looking glasses back then. :)

same

My teacher made us watch this😂😂

They French engages came past my home Canadian River... in todays Oklahoma

what are they drinking on the night before the end?

I beg you. Who is the group singing "c'est l'aviron"? No info anywhere. Les Quators Alouettes?

Gigachads of the fur trade.

I watched this at school

can u please turn on captions :

It’s march 20 2023, and we are watching this for our history class. Man this is horing