FYI, I got some info from my friend Ken Hamilton, in regards to my quote above about about the '3 knives' ... and I had it wrong, it was the Natives who used the 3 and the French Canadiens copied them.
"They THINK the quote is from "Jolicoeur Charles Bonin", as the passage is only signed JCB, as based on the surviving records of fort personnel at Ft. Duquesne. The entire narrative was never signed by the guys actual name, and only ever as the initials of "JCB". So French Canadian historian Rene' Chartrand figured this out. His narrative (a full book!) also includes Native customs, clothing descriptions, techniques and his canoe trip to Detroit and Michilimackinac.
He, like other period writers, is not exactly technically perfect in their descriptions of native observations, although usually waaaaaaay better and more curious than most English writers. So, we have to look at JCB's writings with our modern ethno-anthro-historian 'glasses' on, plus some common sense and practical lessons learned from our living history.
Here is the real Quote: "When the Natives go to war, they are armed with their guns, hatchets and knives. They usually have three knives: one hung at the collar around one's neck, one through the sash, and a third alongside the leg, on the outside of the garter. The Canadians do the same; all of this by precaution or security measures."
[KH - What the heck did he exactly mean by this last statement? Who knows?]"
"They THINK the quote is from "Jolicoeur Charles Bonin", as the passage is only signed JCB, as based on the surviving records of fort personnel at Ft. Duquesne. The entire narrative was never signed by the guys actual name, and only ever as the initials of "JCB". So French Canadian historian Rene' Chartrand figured this out. His narrative (a full book!) also includes Native customs, clothing descriptions, techniques and his canoe trip to Detroit and Michilimackinac.
He, like other period writers, is not exactly technically perfect in their descriptions of native observations, although usually waaaaaaay better and more curious than most English writers. So, we have to look at JCB's writings with our modern ethno-anthro-historian 'glasses' on, plus some common sense and practical lessons learned from our living history.
Here is the real Quote: "When the Natives go to war, they are armed with their guns, hatchets and knives. They usually have three knives: one hung at the collar around one's neck, one through the sash, and a third alongside the leg, on the outside of the garter. The Canadians do the same; all of this by precaution or security measures."
[KH - What the heck did he exactly mean by this last statement? Who knows?]"
