Porkeater | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Porkeater

Porkeater [French, mangeur de lard ], in the parlance of the fur trade, was a derogatory term for a Voyageur hired by the North West Company who made only the short run between Montréal and Grand Portage (and not into the North-West) and whose staple diet was pork, unlike the Winterer, or homme du nord, who made do with fish and pemmican. Later it came to refer to any voyageur who was a newcomer to the North-West.