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Des Sauvages, ou voyage de Samuel Champlain

Samuel de Champlain · 1603

Champlain's first published work, describing his 1603 voyage up the St Lawrence and a gathering of Indigenous nations at Tadoussac.

Champlain's first published work, written from his own 1603 expedition and meetings with Indigenous nations.

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Front cover of a dark brown leather-bound book with gold-tooled decorative corner ornaments and a thin gold border frame on each panel, with a patterned gold-tooled spine band across the middle. The cover is closed and shows no visible title.
Samuel de Champlain, Des Sauvages, ou voyage de Samuel Champlain, 1603. John Carter Brown Library / Bibliothèque nationale de France.

About this source

What it is

This is Samuel de Champlain's first published account, written after his 1603 voyage to New France. He describes exploring the Saguenay and St Lawrence rivers and meeting with the Innu, Algonquin, and Etchemin peoples at Tadoussac. The book is held by the John Carter Brown Library and the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Why it matters

This was Champlain's first step toward becoming known as the "Father of New France." The title's word "sauvages" meant "forest dwellers," not an insult, showing how language and meaning can shift over time. The book documents early contact and alliance-building between the French and Indigenous nations.

Look closer

  • Why might understanding the original meaning of a word matter when reading old texts?
  • What does this account suggest about the relationship between the French and Indigenous peoples at this early stage?
  • What parts of the story might be told differently from an Indigenous point of view?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Samuel de Champlain on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Front cover of a dark red leather-bound book with a small gold-tooled emblem of a lion or griffin-like creature above the initials 'E' and 'T' in gold lettering, centered on the cover.Book

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Carte geographique de la Nouvelle Franse

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First page of a handwritten French manuscript, Samuel de Champlain's testament, dated 1635. Cursive brown ink on aged yellowed paper with water stains, a stamp reading Archives Nationales, and a handwritten signature at the left margin. The text begins 'Au nom du Pere et du fils et du Saint Esprit'.Document

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Testament de Samuel Champlain

Samuel de Champlain · 17 November 1635

A bronze mariner's astrolabe in a glass display case. It has a ring at the top for hanging, a circular plate with engraved scale markings around the edge, four open spokes, and a central pivot with two alidade arms. A blurred old map is behind it.Artifact

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Mariner's Astrolabe

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