Word of the Week…en français

Chenail Ecarte

chenail /ʃənaj/ (variant of chenal): channel
ecarte (écarté) /ekaʀte/: out-of-the-way, remote

A river and place-name in Ontario. The word ‘chenail’ is not found in European French, but is said to be current in Joual. It is known in the Detroit region from at least the 18th century. The Chenail Ecarte flows south from the St. Clair River into Lake St. Clair, and lies to the east of Walpole and St. Anne Islands. Also known from “Chenail Ecarte Reserve,” to which the Walpole Island First Nation is historically linked. It was on the eastern shore of the St. Clair River in the 18th and 19th centuries, once entirely the territory of the Three Fires Condederacy. 

Found in Mots Choisis: Trois Cents Ans de Francophonie au Détroit du Lac Érie by Marcel Bénéteau and Peter W. Halford and A Glossary of Mississippi Valley French, 1673-1850.