VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK – The national park in a remote region of Minnesota is named after the travelers who explored the interconnected waterways of the area.
Voyageurs National Park originates from the French word for “traveler.” French explorers were among the many that began exploring this area for fur trapping more than 250 years ago.
“As park visitors travel the lakes today, it is easy to imagine the voyageurs of the past dipping their canoe paddles into the clear, dark waters to the rhythm of their songs, gliding past the rock and pines of this northern landscape,” writes the National Park Service.
Of course, Native Americans have called the Minnesota national park home for about 10,000 years, with more than 220 pre-contact archeological sites documented within the park.
The Bois Forte Chippewa (Ojibwe) were the primary tribe living in the region before their land was taken for timber and minerals. By the 1930s, only a handful of Bois Forte Chippewa (Ojibwe) continued to live in the park permanently.
“Today, only a few place names exist that reference the Bois Forte presence in the park,” acknowledges the NPS.
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