In the 18th century Native Americans (or First Nations People) commonly practiced tattooing as a form of personal identity. We know nearly all Iroquois men’s tattoos were distinct to them.
Here’s an interesting example of how tattooing was used as identification…
“According to the account book of Dutch trader Evert Wendell dated August 13, 1706, a young Seneca brave named Tan Na Eedsies visited Wendell in Albany, New York, and completed his transaction by drawing a pictograph next to his order. This drawing identifed Tan Na Eedsies, and the tattooed patterns on his face, neck, and chest were considered equivalent to his personal signature.
Tan Na Eedsies’ facial marks are consistent with the ethnographic record and include a serpent manitou, a series of bird manitous skirting his hairline, scalp-tally markings running along a bar that crossed his nose and other neck and V-shaped sternum markings.”
Source above: “Tattooed War Clubs of the Iroquois” by Lars Krutak
Contact between French Voyageurs and First Nations resulted in influencing the customs of each group
The French began to appropriate indigenous manners, as the First Nations peoples had to adjust to the arrival of the colonizing force. The adoption of Native tattooing practices by the coureurs de bois and the French voyageurs may be seen, to a certain degree, as an imitation of a Native practice. Europeans who lived among various First Nations peoples year round began to copy the customs of the peoples with whom they shared a way of life.
Many French, especially the voyageurs, who often travel across Canada for the fur trade, take pleasure in following the example of the savages; the white man never tattoos his face like the savage man, but only other small parts of their bodies like the chest, back, arms and especially their legs.
The French ordinarily let the savages execute the work as they are the masters of the art.
Documented Testimony
A testimony making reference to the coureurs de bois' tattoo images exists in a passage recorded by Tonti, a voyageur and trading post commander, who explained that:
“The fur traders often adopt tattooing, covering nearly their entire body with pictures Indian style. Some mixed Christian symbols with Indian, using an image of the Virgin, Christ Child, and a large cross on the stomach.”
This adoption of Native body marking practices by the coureurs de bois and voyageur is reiterated in an excerpt taken from Marquis de Montcalm's journal. On October 8, 1758 Montcalm stated:
“We found nine hundred and Fifty Canadians and this detachment was of a good sort, almost all voyageurs. We easily recognized them due to their size and that they all had tattooed their bodies with images of some plant or animal. The image was traced by pricking the skin with a needle and printing was done by burning powder in the holes.”
Source above: “Body Marking Within New France: A Contemporary Perspective” by Carolyn Christina Cross
Permanent tattoos using vermilion and gun powder were applied to punctured wounds and the colors are differentiated under the skin. Common designs included the sun, crosses, religious symbols, animals, flowers and anything else they wish.
Daniel Joseph Amiot dit Villeneuve’s Tattoos
Daniel Joseph Amiot dit Villeneuve, our 8th great-uncle, was a Voyageur and Coureur de Bois who married Domitilde Oukabe Nepveuouikabe LaFourche an Ottawa woman whose father was a chief named Kewinaquot "Returning Cloud.”
The record suggests Daniel was already tattooed before he married Domitilde. I believe Coureurs des Bois, like Daniel, used tattooing as a means of acceptance to help fit into Native American culture.
In the book “Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America” by Michael A. McDonnell we find a reference on page 107 to the tattooing on Daniel’s back…
Above image from the author’s library.
Read more about Daniel Joseph Amiot dit Villeneuve:
Great-Uncle Daniel Amiot Canoes to the Gulf of Mexico
Chapter Four, Quebec's Amiot Family
