This enactment designates the 5th day of February in each year as “National Thanadelthur Day”.

Preamble

Whereas the Denesuline and Cree peoples living in today’s northern Manitoba had a hostile relationship that was aggravated by the fur trade in the early 1700s;

Whereas Thanadelthur was a young Denesuline woman who was a skilled interpreter, ambassador and negotiator for the Hudson’s Bay Company and played a crucial role in the expansion of the English and French fur trade in the Northwest;

Whereas Thanadelthur was captured by the Cree in 1713 and was then enslaved for a year before escaping to the Hudson’s Bay Company York Factory Post governed by James Knight;

Whereas Thanadelthur stayed at York Factory to plan with James Knight to make peace between the Denesuline and the Cree, not only to facilitate trade but to ensure both could live harmoniously;

Whereas, in 1715–16, Thanadelthur guided Hudson’s Bay Company trader William Stuart and a contingent of Cree peoples to the northwest of York Factory on Hudson Bay and into Denesuline territory;

Whereas Thanadelthur’s contribution led to peace between the Cree and Denesuline, with long-lasting impacts upon the Cree, Denesuline and the Hudson’s Bay Company;

Whereas Thanadelthur died on February 5, 1717;

And whereas Thanadelthur’s 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;

Now, therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: