Thanadelthur

Thánadëltth'ér or Thanadelthur (c. 1697 – 5 February 1717) was a woman of the Chipewyan Dënesųłı̨ne nation who served as a guide and interpreter for the Hudson's Bay Company. She was instrumental in forging a peace agreement between the Dënesųłı̨ne (Chipewyan) and the Cree people. She was trilingual, able to speak English, Chipewyan, and Cree.

Life Thanadelthur is thought to have been born during 1697. In early 1713, a party of Dënesųłı̨ne was attacked by Cree, who captured their women. Among them was Thanadelthur. Competition for women was sometimes the catalyst of tribal warfare; they were taken as prizes by the victors. Female slaves were valuable to the tribal workforce. Serving in this role contributed to the high female mortality rate.

She reached the safety of York Factory, Manitoba on 24 November 1714. At this time, James Knight, a director of the Hudson's Bay Company, was seeking an interpreter to help convince the Cree to allow other northern Indians to reach bay-side trading posts to trade furs with his company. The Cree had acquired firearms through trade with Europeans, and objected to what they considered as other tribes attempting to invade their tribal territory. They posed a significant hindrance to the expanded, lucrative trade the company wanted to conduct. Also the Cree were York Factory's main fur suppliers and did not want to compete with others. While James Knight was the one who had enlisted her aid, he assigned her to William Stuart, who was the lead HBC representative to meet the tribes for negotiations. The title "slave woman" referred to her status as a Cree slave. Since she had escaped, Knight added "Joan" to her name for her valiant efforts in translating the agreements among the HBC, the Cree, and the Dene. The name Tha-narelther meant "falling sable." Petitot had heard the story from a man with Cree and Dene ancestry, named Alexis Enna-aze, who told him this story of a Chipewyan woman who convinced her people to trade with the Hudson's Bay Company.

The lasting peace agreement honed by Thanadelthur paved the way for expansion of the Hudson's Bay Company farther north and led to further integration of the arriving Europeans into the groups of Indigenous people living on the land.

In 2017, a plaque commemorating her life was erected in Churchill, Manitoba. In 2024, the main-belt asteroid has been named in her honor.

In 2025, Canadian Senator Mary Jane McCallum proposed Bill S-225, which would make February 5 National Thanadelthur Day, as this "little-known but inspirational story of bravery and determination sheds light on the early years of the northern fur trade and speaks to the important contributions of Indigenous women."

In popular media

Thanadelthur is portrayed as a leading character in the James Archibald Houston's novel Running West, along with William Stewart and James Knight. The novel traces her life from the time she is captured and enslaved by Cree Indians, through the journey from York Factory to the land of the Dene, and their return.

Canadian musician Mike Ford recorded the song "Thanadelthur" on his second album Canada Needs You.