Nicollet, Jean, 1598-1642.

Interpreter and clerk for the Compagnie de la Nouvelle France, explorer, and liaison officer between the French and the Indians.

Nicollet arrived in Canada in 1618, and, at the request of Champlain, spent two years at Allumette Island in the Ottawa River, learning the Huron and Algonkin languages. After nine years among the Nipissings, and four years in Huron country, he settled in Trois-Rivières and Québec in 1633 as a clerk of the Compagnie. Between 1634 and 1635, he explored the Ottawa and French Rivers to Lake Huron, Michilimackinac, and Green Bay, and the Fox River to Mascoutens. Until his death by drowning in 1642, Nicollet lived in Trois-Rivières, well-respected for his services to the colony, and for his knowledge of Indian languages and customs.