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bois-brûlé
[< Cdn F bois brûlé charred wood, with reference to the half-breed's dark complexion]
Hist.
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
a half-breed, especially one having French blood; Métis.
Quotations
1815
You will be poor and miserable if the English stay. But we will drive them away, if the Indian does not, for the "Nor'-West" Company and the Bois-brulés are one.
1890
Bois-brules is explained by referring to the maternal dialect of a large proportion of half-breeds. In the Chippewa [Ojibwa] tongue they are "men partly burnt," i.e. tinged with Indian blood, but not quite burned into the coppery complexion.
1960
. . . the result of the Bay proclamations was to provoke civil disobedience on the part of the boisbrules and active opposition by the Nor'westers. . . .