Labor, gender, and intercultural diplomacy: the emergence of Madame Montour as a professional interpreter in colonial North America

ABSTRACT

Madame Montour, the child of a union forged by an Algonquin woman and French settler, leveraged her fluency in multiple indigenous and European languages to emerge as one of the most prominent interpreters in colonial New York and Pennsylvania. As the fur trade developed and new material culture was introduced in colonial North America, the labor of intercultural interpreters was invaluable as the interactions of diverse peoples, both settler and indigenous, intensified. This paper examines the distinguished career of Madame Montour as an interpreter engaged in intercultural diplomacy during an increasingly tumultuous and violent time that was marked by shifts in the relationship between gender and labor identity. I consider how payments in the form of cash, cloth, and clothing were entwined in the negotiation of an emerging colonial identity and how Madame Montour advocated to be recognized for her labor and to receive timely compensation for her skilled work.

KEYWORDS:

• Madame Montour
• interpreters
• intercultural diplomacy
• fur trade
• colonial North America

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Dr. James Delle (Chronicle Heritage) who read and commented on earlier drafts of this article. This article benefitted greatly from the thoughtful comments of two anonymous reviewers as well as editorial guidance from Kimberly Bowes (University of Pennsylvania). I express my sincere gratitude to Jesse Bergevin, Oneida Nation Historical Resources Specialist, for meeting with me and discussing the objectives of the larger project from which this article stems. I also thank staff members at the New York State Archives in Albany, the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library in Manhattan, and the Thomas T. Taber Museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society Williamsport, PA for their assistance. I am indebted to the Joseph L. Peyser Endowment for the Study of New France Research Grant funds to carry out archival research at Western Michigan University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Joseph L. Peyser Endowment for the Study of New France Research Grant.