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Coureur des bois
(983 words)

Coureurs des bois were young men from France who maintained close contact with the indigenous American peoples in early modern French Canada, and spent at least part of the year living among them.

La Nouvelle France (New France) was not a settler colony, so the history of French Canada (1608-1763; Colonial empire 4.) is free from territorial conflicts with the indigenous population. The chief interests of the French were the fur trade and the Catholic mission, so they relied on close cooperation with the local peoples. French people of all backgrounds, including m…

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Trenk, Marin, “Coureur des bois”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_029993>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170206



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