Moosejaw Radio Part 7: Eastmain ᐄᔅᒣᐃᓐ to Chisasibi ᒋᓵᓰᐲ

I Don't Drive 25

Once we left Relais 381 it was a fast 20 minutes back to the Eastmain exit where we turned onto the dusk-draped gravel road with 64 miles to go.  I found the sweet spot for the Terrain's AWD after a few experimental minutes of accelerating and swerving, and once we adjusted to the slight rocking of the vehicle churning through wavy ridges of broken rock, we settled-in and rode the lithic wave to Eastmain.  We were in the village center within one hour's travel time (yes, I am deliberately skirting the issue of profligate road conduct in order to conserve my meager reservoir of integrity for later shenanigans).  Upon arrival we discovered that indeed, there was a brand new hotel in town called the Eneyaauhkaat Lodge, and it was a darn nice one at that.

Prince Rupert Narrowly Escapes Boy Band Purgatory

Prince Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland and Bavaria, grandson of King James I of England and nephew to King Charles I, was a teenage soldier in the service of Holland during the Thirty Years' War, a Cavalier commander in the English Civil War, a royalist buccaneer in the Caribbean during the Second English Civil War, and the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company - appointed thereto by his cousin King Charles II.  Rupert's peripatetic career reads like the back sleeve of a mercenary romance novel, and his royal celebrity and long locks made him an obvious candidate for the Sun King's courtier collection at Versailles.  That is until the young prince quit the French court when Louis declined to give him a commission.  Widely regarded as one of the best cavalry commanders of his age, the young prince was a model cavalier for the European nobility of the 17th Century, but he was not a leader in the area of wealth management.  His relatively  unsubstantial means had been won and lost at the point of a sword, or bequeathed to him in minor sums by relatives and past employers.  In 1669 he was an aging aristocrat without a fortune, and he was in need of a big score.  When he was introduced to the intrepid woodsman Pierre Radisson, he must have recognized a kindred adventurer, and admired the indomitable spirit of a virtual buck-skinned version of himself.  Upon hearing the Frenchman's plan, he agreed to help underwrite the enterprise.

Let us now address the outsized adventurer in the room: Who wins in a head-to-head challenge for Romance Novel Hero of The Year?

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

• Was a teenage cavalry commander

• Gave his name to Rupert’s Land

• Was born into nobility

• Spoke German, French, and English, et al

• Told Louis XIV see ya

• Was a model Cavalier 

• Looked dreamy in portraits

Pierre Esprit Radisson   

• Was a teenage Mohawk warrior

• Gave his name to an international hotel chain

• Hobnobbed with nobility

• Spoke Algonquin, English, and French, et al

• Told Louis XIV see ya

• Was a model Coureur du Bois

• Looked fierce in portraits

The poetic irony is that they did meet of course, and the direct result of their meeting was the founding of The Hudson's Bay Company.   

THE AUTHOR'S FAMILY PASSES ON SOME MUD FORT WISDOM 

The Children of Eastmain Think We Need Supervision 

THE AUTHOR ATTEMPTS TO WOW THE KIDS WITH HIS OWN IMPROMPTU BIKE CLINIC - PHOTO SHEBA FARRIN

Situated at the mouth of the Eastmain River, the Village of the same name was founded by Woodland Cree traders who settled near a Hudson's Bay Company trading post established on the southeast coast of James Bay.  Named East Main House for the region it represented, the post was built in 1685 as part of Radisson's hub-and-spoke fur collection scheme.  Historically, bands of Cree in the James Bay area controlled much of the inland fur trade and made themselves the indispensable conduits of the product for the HBC setting up their trade axes along the coast. The woodland bands typically moved seasonally to take advantage of annual fish, fowl and game migration patterns.  As the demand and profits in the fur trade grew, several Cree bands made permanent settlements around HBC trading posts, further solidifying their position and status within the rapidly expanding fur trade. 

Beaver Wars!

Beaver-skinned hats  were the sartorial rage of 17th and 18th-Century Europe, and the lust for their felted hides drove the European beaver to the brink of extinction.  Abundant populations discovered in the New World, particularly in the remote northern wildernesses where their furs were especially thick, provoked a bloody realignment of tribal associations and territorial boundaries among Native Americans, and fueled a century of warfare fed by European weapons, capital and greed. 

The so-called Beaver Wars were already raging when the HBC built its first trading post, Fort Charles, in 1668 on Cree lands near present day Waskaganish.  More accurately described as a series of conflicts fought between the Iroquois Confederacy with British aid on one side, and a host of Algonquin bands and the Wyandot Nation aided by the French on the other, the war ranged over 100-plus-years and nearly a third of the North American Continent.  Several native bands had been uprooted or disappeared altogether by the end of the war, but the James Bay Cree Nations' strategic situation allowed them to adapt to fluctuating European hegemonies, and their dominance in the fur trade helped them better prepare for a new age of colonial rule and expansion.

THE AUTHOR AND HIS FAMILY FROM AN ISLAND IN NUNAVUT TERRITORY 

We were humbled to get to know this beautiful village, and at some point over the next two days we met much of the citizenry of Eastmain too, principally owing to the fact that we were the only non-local game in town.  Included among our visitors was a representative of the fledgling local office of tourism who took us out to a fishing camp located in the Strutton Islands, a forty-minute cruise from the village on outboard canoes.  The trip over was spent discussing elements of the Cree language, native sovereignty and the nascent tourism industry around James Bay.  Along the way we were delighted to learn that once we left the shore, we were technically in the Territory of Nunavut.  We had lunch on the island and returned over the water at the advent of the long subarctic sunset, when the infinite northern horizons begin their colorful march into evening.  The rest of the available hours of light were spent exploring and hiking along the coast. 

Early the next afternoon we left Eastmain for the village of Chesasabi with a profound sense of gratitude for being able to share this tiny village so intimately with its people.  The road ahead promised 155 miles of tarmac and 120 miles of filling-loosening gravel - and several hours of Moosejaw Radio.  

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