Despite her crucial role as diplomat for Hudson’s Bay Company Governor James Knight, few people will recognize the name of Thanadelthur. Enslaved by Cree for a year before escaping, Thanadelthur, a young (and likely teenage) Chipewyan woman, made a deal with Knight to work as a translator so that she could be reunited with her family. Her duties included brokering an “impossible” peace between the Cree and Chipewyan so that trading relations could be established and safely maintained. Canada’s History Society web editor, Tanja Hutter, came across Thanadelthur’s story while digitizing the Beaver archive and Thanadelthur immediately came to mind when asked, “Who is your History Idol?”
