By Suzanne Guimont Binette In the early history of Canada, it
was not until Olivier LeTardif became the personal
representative and interpreter for Samuel de Champlain that we
first hear the name Manitouabewich. This young Indian, of the
Huron Nation, had been hired as LeTardif’s own scout and
traveling companion. Manitouabewich had been converted to
Christianity by the French missionaries, and as part of the
baptismal ritual, had been given the Christian name of Roch, in
honor of St.Roch, the patron saint. Olivier LeTardif and Roch
Manitouabewich traveled together for many years. It was the
responsibility of LeTardif to establish a network of fur trading
posts for the "Company" that Champlain had based at Quebec
(l’Habitation at Basseville). Actually, the fur trading posts
were the "middle link" between the trappers and the "Company".
There were three types of trappers: a) the trappers that were
"licensed" by the authorities of the Company b) the itinerant
unlicensed trappers known as the "Coureurs des bois"