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Gens
Cdn French, Fur Trade, Hist.
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
people (used in various combinations by the traders and voyageurs to identify Indians of certain regions and fur-company men associated with certain departments). See quotes.
Quotations
1794
This with little difference is ye manner in which the Beaver Hunters are treated, but the Gens du large [Plains Indians] consisting of Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, Blood Indians, Piedgans &, are treated with less liberality.
1847f
"Gens du Fou" . . . inhabit a wide country which extends from the sources of the Porcupine and Peel to those of the River of the Mountain Men.
1887
They are the Gens de Bois or Wood Indians of the fur-traders.
1913
. . . the challenge was generally addressed to "le meilleurs" of the offending district, the men of which were known by such nicknames as "Les Blaireaux," or badgers of Saskatchewan; "Les Cygnes," or Swans of Swan River; "Les Rabisca," of Athabasca; or "Les Gens de la Grande Riviere," of Mackenzie River.
1918
The Hudson's Bay Company's people were termed les Anglois or les Gens de la Baie d' Urson [sic] or les Gens du Petit Nord. The North West Company's people were called les Gens du Nord-Ouest.
1951
Gens du large [are] the mounted Indians of open land.