Hello,
I am continuing this series of articles in my quest to determine the origin of the arrow sash. In the last article, I established the place of the arrow sash and the herringbone sash within Noemi Speiser's comprehensive classification of multi-element textiles, alongside braiding and plaiting. I also "discovered" the lexical gap that exists in French when discussing the making of loomless sashes, finding that the most commonly used terms, finger weaving and plaiting, are both close to but different from the reality being described, without finding a truly better one. This is why I use the two terms interchangeably in the text.
Furthermore, the following text mentions historical sources about the First Nations peoples of North America. These texts use terms that, today, are either inaccurate, such as "Indians," or pejorative, such as "savage." I simply want to inform the reader of their presence and that using these terms to describe historical sources does not constitute an endorsement of the values they may convey.
The earliest known mention, dating back to 1798, concerned a drowned man wearing a "pretty arrow-shaped belt."
I found two online articles describing this archival record.
The first is by artist and material culture researcher Francis Back, dating from 1999, accompanied by one of his charming illustrations, a specialty of his: «Un voyageur des Pays d'en Haut en, 1797». We learn that the man found was named Isaac Mireau, the son of an Acadian couple displaced by the Great Upheaval. He was baptized in the village of L'Assomption before settling in St-Jacques-de-l'Achigan, near Montreal. He was hired as a voyageur on January 10, 1788, by the North West Company. The article informs us that he returned to Montreal on December 7, 1797, to sign a new contract, this time bound for the Red River in present-day Manitoba. He drowned a few days later, and his body was not discovered until the following spring.
The description of his clothing, given by Louis Labadie, a schoolteacher, clearly demonstrates a certain cultural blending on the part of this second-generation Acadian immigrant. He wears his hair wrapped in eel skin in the Indigenous style, and an Indigenous silver trade jewel serves as a fastener on his flannel shirt. The rest of his clothing appears to me to be rather typically Canadian/European. So, in this context, should the "pretty arrow sash" he is wearing when his body is examined for identification be associated with the Canadian culture in which he grew up, or with the culture of the voyageur/Indigenous person who has defined his occupation for the past 11 years?
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The article «Ceintures fléchées, l'envers du décor» mentions, for the same year, the post-mortem inventory of the wife of a Michillimackinac merchant, Charles Chaboillez, residing in Montreal, which lists two "cintures à flesches" in her Montreal warehouse. I searched for more information on the inventory and found details about the couple and their children in Marcel Fournier's 2021 book: Les premières familles anglo-canadiennes issues des mariages mixtes au Québec 1760-1780. Charles Chaboillez's wife was named Marie-Anne Chevalier (it's important to remember that women should not be rendered invisible by using their full names whenever possible). The couple met in Michillimackinac, as Marie-Anne Chevalier's father had brought his family to the town in the Great Lakes area. They were married in Michillimakinac in 1735 (source: généalogie du Québec et d'Amérique française) and lived there for much of their lives, having seven children in this fort north of actual Michigan state, which was larger than Trois-Rivières at the time. Two are listed as single on the Genealogy of Quebec and French America website, but Marcel Fournier found a foreign husband for each of them: Marie-Anne-Marthe, born in 1746, and Charlotte-Domitille, born in 1753. The former married Richard Hope, a physician and surgeon-major, in 1769, and the latter married James Doig, a merchant and language teacher, in 1777. The article «Ceintures fléchées, l'envers du décor» mentions the death of Charles Chaboillez's husband in 1808 in Montreal, while the genealogy website places his death in Michillimakinac in 1757. The Charles Chaboilliez mentioned by Monique Genest-Leblanc may be the eldest son, Jean-Baptiste-Charles, born in 1736, whose death date is not listed on the genealogy website. It is possible that Marie-Anne Chevalier, Charles Chaboillez's widow, moved to Montreal after her husband's death, since all her children married in Montreal between 1766 and 1780, with the exception of François-Hippolype Chaboillez, who remained single according to this information. In short, the second mention of an arrow sash, dating from 1798, has a strong connection to Fort Michillimakinac. A facsimile of the inventory of Mrs. Anne Marie Chevalier, known as the widow of Charles Chabolliez, can be found on page 35 of the book « une jolie cinture à flesche » by Monique Genest-Leblanc
This second written mention, in the same year, of a «cinture à flesche» is also linked to the context of the trade with the Upper Country and the highly mixed lifestyle there. The context of the written sources so far leads me to believe that the belts described as having arrows in 1798 were intended for trade with Indigenous peoples.
For author Monique Genest-Leblanc, in her article « Ceintures fléchées, l'envers du décor » as well as in her book mentioned above, the matter is indisputable: the «ceinture à flesche» originated in the St. Lawrence Valley.
In light of the sources from American Revolutionary War period it reveals, it is impossible to establish with certainty whether the sashes described by visitors to the former New France were finger-braided or braided/woven in locations as diverse as Charlesbourg, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Chambly, Montreal, Quebec City, and Sorel. The suspicion is that they were at least braided/finger woven, with some sources mentioning long fringes and others multiple colors. The sources cited sometimes refer to the material (worsted), as in the case of Thomas Anbury in 1776.
« The Canadians in general are a swarthy people, and low in stature; their dress consists of a kind of jacket, and when the weather is cold, a blanket coat, which they fasten round them with a worsted sash. They mostly wear a woollen cap, but in the cold weather a fur one, and have amazing long queues, of which they are exceedingly proud.»
I note that Mr. Anbury also mentions the length of Canadians' hair, which is supposedly a source of pride for these gentlemen. A few years later, in 1805, the British officer Sempronius Stretton immortalized the long, flowing locks of a local inhabitant in winter, as well as his colorful sash:
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| Watercolor painting showing a Canadian man and woman in winter clothing, seen from behind Artiste: Sempronius Stretton Date: 1805 Source: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
In French, there is no such word to explain worsted wool, but I feel a definition is still needed in English about worsted. Much like hair, wool fibers can be combed with wide-toothed combs or carded with a brush-like device with closely spaced bristles. When spun, the combed worsted wool is denser and stronger, while carded wool is more elastic and airy. Given England's centuries-long dominance in the wool industry, it's no surprise that English has a specific term for worsted wool yarn: worsted.
Other sources, such as this anonymous German soldier stationed at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade during the winter of 1777, mention their colors:
«Ihr Kleid ist um die Hüften mit selbsgemacht ein dicten Scharpen von Wolle gewirkt, die langen troBen haben ; diese Scharpen sind von allerlie farben nach eines jeden Phantasie.»
Translation by my friend Mary, an English speaker married to a German and living in Germany:
«Their garments are fastened around the hips using self-made, thick woolen sashes with long tassels; these sashes come in a variety of colors based on individual taste.»
The original article by Ms. Monique Genest-Leblanc translated it as follows: «Ils portent aux hanches, par-dessus ce manteau, une épaisse écharpe de laine aux longues franges, tissée par eux ; ces écharpes sont de différentes couleurs selon le goût de chacun.» (They wear, over their coats, a thick woolen scarf with long fringes, woven by themselves; these scarves are of different colors according to each person’s taste.) I searched, unfortunately in vain, for the original source cited in the article. I did find a German account by the soldier Heinrich Urban Cleve, but he only mentioned the inhabitants’ use of snowshoes and was disappointed by the shortage that meant his regiment hadn’t received any. He also mentioned his astonishment at seeing the saints in the church of the Huron village of Lorette dressed in Indigenous fashion, having had difficulty identifying Saint Peter, were it not for his keys as an attribute. Here is the source: Vertrauliche Briefe aus Kanada und NeuEngland vom J. 1777 und 1778.
Another German soldier requisitioned by the British to take part in the American War of Independence, Friedrich von Germann, left us a sketch of an inhabitant of Canada in 1778.
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| Ein Canadischer Bauer, 1778 Friedrich von Germann Source: Digital collection of New York City Library |
Some consider it the first depiction of a sash worn by Canadians.
Recently, a pair of artisans collaborated to recreate a set inspired by this watercolour. Samuel Venière crafted the blue ribbon-edged coat «capot», while Monique Picard worked on the sash braiding. From their observations and reflections, they decided to make a narrow herringbone sash that wraps twice around the waist.
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| Samuel Venière, beside the flècherande Monique Picard, wearing his Friedrich von Gremann inspired outfit Courtesy Samuel Venières |
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| Detail of the chevron sash recreation of Mrs. Monique Picard Courtesy Samuel Venière |
This certainly brings to mind the description by the anonymous German soldier stationed at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade: “these belts appear in a variety of colors according to individual taste.”
Monique Genest-Leblannc's article mentions another written source from 1777, in the handwriting of Charlotte Luise von Riedesel, wife of General Friedrich A. von Riedesel. Madame von Riedesel traveled to Chambly to be with her husband, who was trembling with fever:
“[…] not having gotten rid of his fever, he wore, ‘though it was summer,’ a blanket coat or gown with ‘ribbons’ and the usual blue and red fringes, in the Canadian fashion.”
I find it interesting that the chevron sash illustrated by Friedrich von Germann features, among other colors, blue and red, which Madame von Riedesel considers typical of Canadian fashion. The ribbon-trimmed hood is also echoed in the watercolor of the German soldier, as well as in Samuel Venière's reproduction.
In fact, there is no clear depiction of a sash with distinct arrows in the earliest written records. The closest equivalent is the portrait of Jean-Moyse Raymond in his uniform from the Collège Saint-Raphaël, which he attended between 1798 and 1805. The artist's style does not allow us to state beyond a doubt that the sash depicted has an arrow pattern rather than a chevron. The separation of colors on the border tends toward the «ceinture fléchée» arrow pattern, but the alternating colors in the center lean more toward the chevron.
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| Portrait of Jean-Moyse Raymond Circa 1800 Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal Source: publication Facebook du 14 novembre 2025 de la Fédération Histoire Québec |
I wanted to go back in time and search for my own references to belts in New France. Monique Genest-Leblanc's book cites studies but rarely provides direct sources for the New France period.
How were the belts worn by Canadians during the time of New France described? The first thing that came to mind was the print depicting a Canadian on snowshoes smoking a pipe, taken from M. de Bacqueville de La Potherie's *Histoire de l'Amérique septentrionale*, published in 1722. The borrowing of snowshoes and footwear from Indigenous peoples seems obvious to me.
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| Canadian on snowshoes going to war from «Histoire de l'Amérique septentrionale... par M. de Bacqueville de La Potherie,.... Tome 1» 1722 Source: Gallica |
Should we also consider the belt as another Indigenous borrowing? Francis Back, in his 1991 article in the magazine Pointe-aux-Diamants, «S'habiller à la canadienne» ("Dressing the Canadian Way,") states the following about the belt:
« Bien que la technique en soit déjà connue, l'habitant ne se sert pas encore de la ceinture fléchée dont l'engouement ne débutera que sous le Régime anglais. L'habitant préfère à cette époque des ceintures de laine de couleur franche tel le rouge, le noir, le vert ou le brun. Plusieurs de ces ceintures sont cependant agrémentées de petites perles de verre colorées appelées «rassades», ou encore de piquants de porc-épic teints en couleurs éclatantes. Ces dernières sont l'œuvre d'Amérindiennes qui approvisionnent les marchands en «ceintures sauvages». »"Although the technique was already known, the Indigenous people did not yet use the arrow sash, the popularity of which would only begin under British rule. At that time, Indigenous people preferred plain wool belts in bold colors such as red, black, green, or brown. Many of these belts, however, were adorned with small colored glass beads called 'rassades,' or with brightly dyed porcupine quills. These latter were the work of Indigenous women who supplied merchants with 'wild belts.'"
To which technique exactly is Francis Back referring when he writes that the arrow sash technique was already known? Is it the universal chevron made by finger braiding/weaving, or the arrow-shaped one? Since this article didn't provide any sources to explore, my question unfortunately remains unanswered.
However, the mention of "wild sashes," as well as decorations with Indigenous connotations such as colored glass beads and dyed porcupine quills, clearly demonstrates the intercultural exchange present in New France regarding sash wearing. These references seem to be less common than the bolder colors, but they are nonetheless present. In light of the information in this article, it's possible to assert that Indigenous customs influenced the fashion for wearing sashes among some Canadians.
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| Ex-voto de l'Église Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, Rivière-Ouelle Circa 1730 Source: Le Devoir |
I fear I may be suffering from confirmation bias in seeing a subtle chevron pattern on the green sash of the man in the brown hood in the lower left of the painting. At the very least, the three sashes depicted are a solid color, but it is impossible to distinguish whether they are made with a cloth border or by finger braiding/weaving.
If we are to believe Pehr Kalm in his journal entry of September 12, 1749 ( the French translation), this Swedish visitor to New France and New England, the sash worn by Canadian peasants was borrowed from the Indigenous Nations:
«Chose curieuse! tandis que beaucoup de nations imitent les coutumes françaises, je remarque, qu'ici, ce sont les Français qui, à maints égards, suivent les coutumes des Indiens, avec lesquels ils ont des rapports journaliers. Ils fument, dans des pipes indiennes, un tabac préparé à l'indienne, se chaussent à l'indienne et portent jarretières et ceintures comme les Indiens. Sur le sentier de guerre ils imitent la circonspection des Indiens ; de plus, ils leur empruntent leurs canots d'écorce et les conduisent à l'indienne ; ils s'enveloppent les pieds avec des morceaux d'étoffe carrés au lieu de bas et ont adopté beaucoup d'autres façons indiennes. »“Curiously! While many nations imitate French customs, I observe that here, it is the French who, in many respects, follow the customs of the Indians, with whom they have daily contact. They smoke Indian-prepared tobacco in Indian pipes, wear Indian-style footwear, and wear garters and sashes like the Indians. On the warpath, they imitate the circumspection of the Indians; moreover, they borrow their birchbark canoes and paddle them in the Indian style; they wrap their feet with square pieces of cloth instead of stockings and have adopted many other Indian customs.”
For the Swedish botanist, the wearing of the belt among the inhabitants is due to cultural exchanges with the First Nations. I wonder if the belt and garters mentioned by Pehr Kalm are not the “small war” attire consisting of a shirt, breeches fastened at the hips by a belt, and mittens/greaves.
The oldest description I have found of the Canadian dress, including the belt that closes the hood, is on page 56 of the Mercure Galant of March 1709 in a letter recounting “recent” events in Canada:
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| Mercure de France Édition de mars 1709 Page 56 Source: Google Books |
The excerpt refers to a July 1707 expedition to New England, in retaliation for repeated attacks on Port Royal. The expression "écharpe à la matelote" (sailor's scarf) as a synonym for a belt fastening the hood warrants further investigation and certainly deserves a full article. The wearing of a belt by Canadians to fasten their «capot» coat is a practice borrowed from sailors' fashion, as confirmed by this expression. Visual and detailed depictions of 17th- and 18th-century sailors were, all things considered, rare; I extended my iconographic research to European sailors wearing a visible belt, not just French sailors. Most of the time, sailors are illustrated from a distance with few details...
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| Détail d'une estampe montrant un marin de Toscane portant clairement une ceinture avec un motif rayé Auteur: Étienne de la Belle ( Stefano Della Bella) 1634 Source: Les musées de la Ville de Paris |
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| Sailor details Renier Zeeman 1656 Source: Les musées de la ville de Paris |
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| Portrait of the privateer Jean Bart Artiste: Nicolas Arnoult 1694 Source: Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Paris |
Sometimes even 17th-century European peasants may appear to be wearing some kind of belt:
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| Peasant interior David II Teniers School from the Southern Netherlands XVIIe siècle Source: Le Louvre |
To summarize the main points of this article so far:
- The earliest mentions of «cintures à flesches» date back to 1798 and appear in the context of trade with the Pays-d'en-Haut region.
- References dating from the American Revolutionary War, several of which come from Germans, refer to "worsted" wool, long fringes, and various colors including red and blue, but never to the pattern itself.
- The earliest illustrations of "arrow belts" lack sufficient detail to determine whether they depict chevrons or arrows in the true sense of the word.
- Pehr Kalm, in 1749, linked the wearing of belts by the inhabitants with Indigenous fashion, such as wearing moccasins, smoking pipes, and using birchbark canoes.
- Francis Back, a specialist in New France clothing and a historical illustrator, mentions belts decorated with "rassades" (small glass beads) or dyed porcupine hair, or even «ceinture sauvages» ("wild"belts) made by Indigenous people.
- Wearing a belt to fasten the hood was a fashion element known in the maritime world since at least the mid-17th century.
If only there were a comprehensive inventory of archival records concerning clothing for men during the New France period...
This is where Kevin Gélinas's book, "Frontier Soldiers of New France Volume 2," published in 2025 by Helion & Company, comes in. It does exactly what I needed for this article: it compiles records of men's clothing in the archives.
Mr. Gélinas found 287 records of belts in his survey of post-mortem inventories covering the period from 1723 to 1764 for the regions of Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Montreal, and the Illinois Country (a territory included in the greater Pays-d'en-Haut region, part of the present-day Great Lakes region). As for the "technical" description of the inventoried belts, 99, or about a third, are made of fabric (Taffeta, Calmande, silk, Damask, Grenade, Droguet, serge, Carisé, Camelot, satin, local wool, etamine, etc.), 97, or another third, are made of wool trimmed with rassades ( glass beads), and 70 are simply wool belts without any other specifications.
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| Page 34 of the book Frontier Soldiers of New France Volume 2 |
Je suis étonnée: il y a plus de mentions de ceintures avec rassades que de ceintures tissées simples dans les archives. En additionnant les ceinture de laine «simple» avec les ceintures de laine garnies de rassades, on arrive avec 68% du total des ceintures recensées. On peut conclure que la majorité des ceintures étaient tressées/tissées au doigt même si dans cette majorité, il y en avait un peu plus qui avaient des perles décoratives que non.
J'ai contacté l'auteur pour savoir si les mentions de ceintures sauvages et de ceintures perlées étaient plus fréquentes pour les Pays-d'en-Haut et il s'avère que seulement 6 mentions de ceintures ont été trouvées dans les archives des Illinois, une sans autres spécification, quatre faites en laine et une en damas. La mode des rassades, des poils de porc-épic et des ceintures dites sauvages apparait bel et bien dans les archives des trois gouvernements principaux de la Nouvelle-France, montrant une adoption de l'esthétisme autochtone par les Canadiens, en ce qui a trait à la ceinture.
Le témoignage de l'avocat Claude Le Beau, raconte que les Canadiens ferment leurs capots avec une «ceinture sauvage» garnie de plumes de porc-épic, après avoir discuté des habitudes dépensières des coureurs de bois:
I'm surprised: there are more mentions of belts with beads than of simple woven belts in the archives. Adding the "plain" wool belts to the wool belts adorned with beads brings us to 68% of all the belts recorded. We can conclude that the majority of belts were braided/hand-woven, even though within this majority, slightly more had decorative beads than did not.
I contacted the author to ask if mentions of wild belts and beaded belts were more frequent for the Upper Laurentians, and it turns out that only six mentions of belts were found in the Illinois archives: one without further specification, four made of wool, and one of damask. The fashion for belts, porcupine quills, and so-called «ceinture sauvages» "wild belts" is clearly documented in the archives of the three main governments of New France, demonstrating an adoption of Indigenous aesthetics by Canadians, particularly regarding belts.
The testimony of lawyer Claude Le Beau recounts that Canadians fastened their hoods with a «ceinture sauvages» "wild belts" adorned with porcupine quills after discussing the extravagant spending habits of the «coureurs de bois» (fur traders).
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Claude Le Beau, Avantures du Sr. C. Le Beau, avocat en parlement, ou, Voyage curieux et nouveau parmi les sauvages de l’Amérique septentrionale… page 56 Imprimé à Amsterdam chez Herman Uytwerf 1738 Source: Canadiana |
The others (St Lawrence Valley ihnabitants), on the contrary, are always modestly dressed. Theirs clothings are «capots croisés» ( crossed over capot coat) on their stomach, by means of a belt trimmed with porcupine feathers; they are uniform and almost all the same color. It is also from the «sauvages» (indigenous people) who learned what shoes to wear, which is indeed most convenient.
It's reasonable to assume that the presence of "wild belts" adorned with porcupine is significant enough among the Canadians he encounters for Mr. Le Beau to make this generalization.
Mr. Gélinas shared his most interesting findings with me when I contacted him about the belts of New France:
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| Ceinture de laine rouge, jaune, bleue Tiré de l'inventaire de Louise Touchet à la requête de Joseph Garneau au nom des enfants mineurs et en tant que tuteurs de ces derniers Inventaire fait par le notaire Pierre Parent 1755 Courtoisie de Kévin Gélinas |
This is perhaps the most eloquent description of finger-braiding/weaving of belts in New France, as it combines three colors and specifies the material. This description is reminiscent of the 1778 watercolor by the German soldier Friedrich von Germann; only the white is missing for the colors to be exactly the same!
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| Une vieille ceinture de laine blanche barrée rouge Tiré de l'inventaire de Jean Beaugis, habitant de Beauport, veuf de Marie Drouin auparavant veuve de Pierre Oreste Inventaire fait par Claude Barolet, Notaire 1751 Courtoisie de Kévin Gélinas |
This description also combines material and colors in addition to giving an indication of the pattern! The pattern is not the most intoxicating, a white belt barred with red, but it strongly reminds me of the diagonals of the half-chevron and the print of the sailor of Tuscany by Stéphane de la Belle 1634 which I put here:
Détail d'une estampe montrant un marin de Toscane portant clairement une ceinture avec un motif rayé
Auteur: Étienne de la Belle ( Stefano Della Bella)
1634
Source: Les musées de la Ville de Paris
In fact, the earliest mention I found attesting to the use of colored wool sashes is attributed not to a civilian, a soldier, or even a sailor, but to a member of the clergy. In his adventures published in 1704, the Recollect Father Louis Hennepin describes his welcome as being adopted by the family of Aquipaguetin, of Iroquois Nation, the "captain" of the settlement where he was received in May 1680. First, the elder Indigenous man had the Recollect Father smoke a calumet before settling him on a bearskin to smear his legs and the soles of his feet with wildcat grease, thus relieving him of the fatigues of the journey. Then Aquipaguetin's son, who already called the Recollect his brother, appeared wearing the brocade chasuble stolen from the Recollect, draped over his otherwise bare shoulders. The liturgical vestment envelops the bones of an ancestor whom his adoptive family venerated. The priest's belt, described as being made of white and red wool with two tassels at the ends, serves as a support strap for the bones during this ceremony. The chasuble and the bones would later be given to a Nation allied with Aquipaguetin. The chasuble and the belt, along with all their other belongings, were ransomed by the Iroquois who had kidnapped and then adopted them.
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«Voyage curieux du R.P. Louis Hennepin, missionnaire Recollect, & notaire apostolique...»Imprimé à Leide chez Pierre Vander en 1704Page 362 Source: BaNQ numérique |
Earlier in the text, the traveling Recollect friar recounts his arrival in the village of the "Koroas." He describes a white woolen belt he wears in the style of a St. Francis cord. This belt is long enough to encircle Louis Hennepin's waist once and has the three characteristic knots of St. Francis of Assisi on one end. It closely resembles a belt for fastening a cowl, although in this case it simply secures the friar's habit.
«Voyage curieux du R.P. Louis Hennepin, missionnaire Recollect, & notaire apostolique...»
Imprimé à Leide chez Pierre Vander en 1704Page 282Source: BaNQ numériqueAt least some of the wool for knitting or finger weaving/braiding was imported from France to the colony of Canada, as can be seen in this order for materials placed with a merchant in Limoges. It is interesting to note the quantity of each color in this 1753 order, with red and yellow wool being more popular than blue and green, and black being the least common. I imagine that, as today, most people who want to knit, weave, or braid prefer to use someone else's work rather than carrying out all the steps from fiber to finished product. Furthermore, only these belts made of "country cloth"—meaning coarse wool woven on a loom in New France—are mentioned, and there is no mention of yarn spun and finger-braided/braided in New France. Again, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Commande des frères marchands Ruffio à un marchand de Limoges
1753
Courtoisie de Kévin Gélinas
A court interrogation from 1742 tells us about how belts and garters were viewed:
Extrait de l'interrogatoire de Baptiste Cere, âgé de 16 ans
Dans le procès criminel à la juridiction royale de Montréal
Contre les nommés Jean-Baptiste Cere, père et fils, et Étienne-Michel Ruparon dit SansPoil, fils d'Étienne Ruparon accusés de vols nocturnes
1742
Source: BaNQ
« ...Et ce fut là où ils renouèrent connoissance. Et il luy demanda s'il connoissait quelqu'un qui put lui acheter des perruques dont il ne sçait pas le nombre, des ceintures à fillet delaine garnies de porcépique, des pantoufles de femmes, une quantité de jartierres aussi delaine tressée, lesquelles marchandises il avoit dans un petit coffre...»
"...And it was there that they met again. And he asked her if he knew anyone who could buy him wigs, the number of which he did not know, fine woolen threads belts trimmed with porcupine, women's slippers, and a quantity of garters also of braided wool, which goods he had in a small chest..."
This is the first time I've read a description of a technique, in this case braiding, to identify a belt, which we imagine to be chevron or half-chevron. It's the use of the word «aussi» in the description of the braided wool garters that allows me to better understand the use of «filets» in the expression « des ceintures de filets de laines garnies de porc-épic ». The use of the word «filets» here doesn't refer to the textile technique of weaving a single element to make fishing nets, for example, but rather literally to a fine thread, a thin strand. The first dictionnaire de l'Académie française (1694) defines «filets» as follows:Diminutif. Fil delié, petit fil. (Diminutive. Thin thread, thin strand. )The information about using fine threads for the belt and braiding for the garters is redundant, necessitating the use of «aussi,» highlighting this redundancy of information for a speaker of that era.
I've saved the best for last because the most fascinating mention found by Kevin Gélinas is, in my opinion, the following:
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| Détail de l'inventaire après décès de Joseph Lemaire dit St-Germain: Dans le magasin ... - 4 ceintures noires - 3 dito rouges - 2 dito par flèche - 1 dito en rée ... Fait par le notaire T. Vuatier à Montréal le 3 août 1757 BaNQ Montréal, non disponible en ligne Courtoisie de Kévin Gélinas |
This inventory show the now oldest pention of arrowed sash in french in 1757. Joseph Lemaire is identified as a merchant trading at Fort des Deux-Montagnes. Located near the present-day town of Oka, near Montreal, Fort des Deux-Montagnes housed an evangelizing mission run by Sulpicians. The known mention of the man who combined a belt and arrow is no longer from 1798 but from 1757, 41 years earlier than previously thought!
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| Plan of the fort near "lac des Deux-Montagnes" 1719 Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Léry, the father Source: Archives de la ville de Montréal |
I am reserving my final article on the arrow sash to express my thoughts on the connection between descriptions and visuals in answering the question: can we assert that the arrow sash technique, which involves changing the warp and weft threads during finger weaving, was invented as early as 1757?
The three earliest mentions that link the arrow and the sash are connected to Indigenous trade. Belts with Indigenous decorations such as porcupine quills or scallops—some belts are simply described as «ceinture sauvage» (wild belts)—were worn by Canadians during the time of New France. So much so that Claude Lebeau, passing through the St. Lawrence Valley in 1729-1730, mentions that the «ceinture sauvage»(wild belt) adorned with porcupine quills was the only tool used to fasten the hood.
Were the arrow sash of 1757 and the "arrow sash belts" of 1798 decorated with the same motif? If so, which one? If not, how can we distinguish them? Were they intended for the Indigenous population or the Canadian population? One is worn by a voyageur, a second-generation Acadian immigrant; the other two appear in store inventories related to trading posts.
In light of this research, I cannot definitively say whether the arrow sash developed spontaneously in the St. Lawrence Valley in the second half of the 18th century among Canadian women, or whether the technique was learned through contact with Indigenous peoples. For now, the influence of Indigenous peoples on Canadians seems very significant with regard to the choice of sash.
Clearly, the origin of the arrow sash seems to me to be a close mix of cultures! In my next article, I will explore the sources mentioning First Nations in relation to the wearing of the sash.
Finally, I would like to thank Kévin Gélinas for his generosity in providing sources and for proofreading this article. His invaluable help allowed me to find and share several historical sources and to deepen my understanding. Thanks again to Michel Thévenin for his linguistic corrections in the original french article. Google translate helped me with the translation.
See you soon, I hope!
Mlle Canadienne
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