Mathieu de Costa

Mathieu Da Costa
Born	Africa
Died	1698
Other names	Lusofonia (African birth name)[1] d'Acosta da Costa
Occupation	Translator and Explorer
Known for	First recorded black person in Canada, Exploration of New France, Bridge between the Aboriginal peoples in Canada and the Europeon explorers through his translation

Mathieu de Costa (sometimes d'Acosta or da Costa) (died 1698) is the first recorded black person in Canada. He was a member of the exploring party of Pierre Dugua, the Sieur de Monts and Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century.

Not much is documented on de Costa, but he is known to have been a freeman favoured by explorers for his multilingual talents. His portfolio of languages - thought to include Dutch, English, French, Portuguese and pidgin Basque, the dialect many Aboriginals used for trading purposes - led him into the employ of Champlain in the role of interpreter.^[2]

This job came to be known as un grumete. He not only worked with Pierre Du Gua de Monts, but other nations, like France and Holland. There were even disputes over which country would benefit from his services. His talents helped him bridge the gap between the Europeans and the Mi'kmaq people.

It is thought that he came to Canada at some time before 1603, using his visit to learn the Mi'kmaq dialect. One source has him coming to Acadie in a Portuguese ship where he learned the Micmac language. A Rouen merchant then kidnapped him in Portugal or in the East Indies and sold or lent him to De Monts as an interpreter.^[3] French papers record him working for government of Port Royal in 1608.^[4] He likely travelled the St. Lawrence River and worked at various locations along the Canadian Atlantic Coast. There is controversy as to how he had learned to communicate with the Aboriginals, with one answer being that the North American context was very similar to the African one.

Mathieu Da Costa was a shopkeeper and translator from an African background who likely traveled throughout the Atlantic world in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. As a translator, he was wanted by the French and the Dutch to help in their trade with the Aboriginal people.

The tradition of Europeans depending on Black translators was more than a century old by Da Costa's time. It began by exploring off the African coast and continued as Europeans and Africans came across to the Americas. Mathieu Da Costa sailed on many voyages, traveling up the St. Lawrence River and all along the coast of what is now Atlantic Canada. He worked with Pierre Du Gua de Monts, a leader in the group of French settlements in Eastern Canada, and with Samuel de Champlain in the 17th century. It is said that he obviously spoke Mi' kmaq. That shows that he was here before Champlain. His translating skills helped link the cultural gap between early French explorers and the Mi'kmaq people.^[5] His work in Canada is honored at the Port Royal Habitation National Historic Site of Canada in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.^[5]

Commemorations

A plaque at Port Royal, Nova Scotia commemorates Da Costa's contribution. It is part of the Mathieu da Costa African Heritage Trail, a series of monuments marking African Nova Scotian history in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.^[6] It was unveiled in July 2005^[7]

The Mathieu Da Costa Challenge is an annual creative writing and artwork contest launched in 1996 by the Department of Canadian Heritage. The challenge encourages youth to discover how diversity has shaped Canada’s history and the important role that pluralism plays in Canadian society.^[8]

References

1. ^ Carlos Taveira (in Portuguese). Mateus da Costa e os trilhos de Megumaagee English: Matthew da Costa and Trails of Megumaagee (2006 ed.). Texto. pp. 317. ISBN 9724731456. 
2. ^ A. J. B. Johnston Parks (2009). "Mathieu Da Costa and Early Canada: Possibilities and Probabilities*". Black history society Canada. http://www.blackhistorysociety.ca/Mathieu%20Da%20Costa%20A_J_B%20Johnston.htm. Retrieved 23 May 2009. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Our French heritage: Fishermen were first to visit acadian homeland". doucetfamily. 2009. http://doucetfamily.org/heritage/Fishermen.htm. Retrieved 23 May 2009. 
4. ^ William J. Switala. Underground Railroad in New Jersey And New York (July 2006 ed.). Stackpole Books; annotated edition edition. pp. 182. ISBN 0811732584. 
   pg 139 - The first black person mentioned in Canada was Mathieu de Costa, who appeared in French records from 1608 as being a "negro servant" to the government of Port Royal.
5. ^ ^{a b} "Who was Mathieu Da Costa?". Government of Canada. 2009. http://www.cic.gc.ca/mathieudacosta/dacosta/index-eng.asp. Retrieved 23 May 2009. 
6. ^ Mathieu da Costa African Heritage Trail
7. ^ Ronald Rudin, Remembering and forgetting in Acadie: a historian's journey through public memory (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), pp. 135-137.
8. ^ theri madi futi panjot (2009). "The Mathieu Da Costa Challenge". Government of Canada. http://www.cic.gc.ca/mathieudacosta/frm/index-eng.asp. Retrieved 23 May 2009. 

External links

• Government of Canada "Mathieu da Costa Challenge"
• "Mathieu da Costa and early Canada "
• "Mateus da Costa e os trilhos de Megumaagee (fictional book in portuguese)"

Persondata
Name	Costa, Mathieu Da
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Africa
Date of death	1623
Place of death