“Do Not Begin to Paddle …
7 Jan
… unless you are inclined to continue paddling.”
So goes the saintly advice of Jean de Brébeuf, the French Jesuit missionary who paddled with the Hurons in the early days of New France. Brébeuf (pictured), who was canonized a Roman Catholic saint in 1930 along with seven other “North American Martyrs,” offered his paddling insights to fellow missionaries traveling with Native America canoeists.
We happened upon Brébeuf’s dictums recently, in Colin G. Calloway’s book One Vast Winter Count, a fine survey of what the Native American world looked like in the years before Lewis and Clark’s expedition.
While Brébeuf isn’t officially the patron saint of paddlers — Che-Mun editor Michael Peake has apparently beatified Bill Mason with that title — he perhaps should be. His advice to 15th Century canoe travelers, according to Calloway, includes:
“Never make them wait for you in embarking.”
“Try and eat at daybreak unless you can take your meal with you in the canoe.”
“Be prompt in embarking and disembarking; and tuck up your gowns so that they will not get wet, and you will not carry either water or sand into the canoe.”
“Take from the start the place in the canoe that you wish to keep.”
And our favorite piece of advice:
“Be careful not to annoy anyone in the canoe with your hat.”
