Tête Jaune

Tête Jaune a.k.a. Pierre Bostonais or Pierre Hastination (died 1828) an Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) trapper, fur-trader, and explorer who worked for the North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company during the 18th and 19th centuries. His nickname (which means yellow head in French) was given to him because of his blond hair.[1] The name “Bostonais” refers to his probable American origin. First Nations people applied this name to American traders (“Boston men” in French).[2]

In the early 19th century, Pierre crossed the Rocky Mountains by the pass which would later bear his name. He led a brigade of Hudson's Bay men through the same pass in December 1819 to encounter the Secwepemc people. Pierre would later move his cache from the Grand Fork of the Fraser river to a Secwepemc fishing village on the Fraser.[3] He and his family were killed by members of the Dunneza in 1828 near the headwaters of the Smoky River, in retaliation for Iroquois encroachment into Dunneza territory.[3]

The Canadian writer, Howard O'Hagan (1902-1982) published the novel, Tay John (1939) an Anglicized form of Tête Jaune. The narrative is a mixture of frontier myths, indigenous tales and the history of Jasper National Park in Alberta. The novel was reprinted in 1960, 1974 and 1989 and became popular in Canadian literature courses across Canada.