Mathieu Da Costa
Mathieu Da Costa is a historical figure believed to have been born around 1589 in Africa and recognized as possibly the first free Black person to arrive in Canada. His life remains largely undocumented, with sparse records indicating his role as an interpreter during a time when European merchants sought to establish trade with African leaders. He likely began his career around the early 1600s, working with Portuguese, French, and Dutch merchants, mastering multiple languages and pidgin forms of communication to facilitate trade.
Da Costa's journey led him to the New World, where he was contracted by French explorer Pierre Dugua de Mons to assist in developing trade relations with Indigenous peoples in North America. However, his story took a tumultuous turn when a legal dispute with a merchant resulted in his arrest, and details of his subsequent life are largely unknown. While the specifics of his contributions to exploration are uncertain, he is acknowledged for bridging cultures and facilitating early international commerce, reflecting the complexities of European-African relations in that era. His legacy serves as a reminder of the diverse individuals who participated in the early stages of globalization and exploration.
Mathieu Da Costa
Interpreter, sailor
- Born: ca. 1500s
- Birthplace: Africa
- Died: After 1619
- Place of death: Québec City, Canada
Significance: Mathieu Da Costa was an African man who worked as an interpreter for European traders and explorers in the early 1600s. At first, he may have served as a translator within Africa, but later lived in Europe. Facts about his life and career are extremely sparse. However, some evidence suggests that he may have been involved in European explorations of Canada. Many modern people hail him as an unsung hero and the first known Black person in Canada.
Background
The life story of Mathieu Da Costa is poorly documented and has few definite facts. Modern historians have assembled only a partial understanding of him. Early records relating to him are sparse and written in numerous languages, meaning that even his name has been rendered in many ways, including Mathieu Da Costa, Mateus Da Costa, Matheus de Cost, and so on.
Most sources agree that he was from Africa and was born sometime about 1589. During the mid- to late-1500s, increasing numbers of sailors from Europe were exploring the coasts and inland regions of Africa. Meanwhile, European merchants made regular voyages to African ports to trade for various goods and, ultimately, enslaved people. Due to an array of linguistic and cultural differences, Europeans needed help in conducting deals with local African leaders and merchants. This created an ever-increasing need for interpreters who knew African languages and customs, as well as the words and ways of Europeans.
The first records of free African people being enlisted as interpreters begin in the late 1400s among sailors and merchants from Portugal. Later, as the Portuguese influence in Africa waned, other countries took increased interest. Dutch, British, and French merchants began traveling there with greater regularity. Successful African interpreters might have to learn three, four, or more languages, as well as countless customs and cultural tidbits, in order to conduct international deals. Skilled interpreters were a coveted asset for merchants.
Work as an Interpreter
As European-African trade spread, the need for interpreters grew. Mathieu Da Costa, almost certainly a free man, began working as an interpreter at some point around the early 1600s. He likely began his career working with Portuguese, French, and Dutch merchants in Africa, during which time he became very familiar with their words and ways. He also learned business skills and the workings of pidgin languages, or simplified, blended languages that help people from different places communicate.
He may have worked within Africa for months or years, but eventually began traveling with and living among his European compatriots. A document from February or March 1607 proves that he was in Holland at that time. Historians believe that, by that point, Mathieu Da Costa had likely already worked with French merchants and sailors. In fact, Dutch forces might have actually kidnapped him when they captured two French ships. The Dutch employed him as an interpreter in their own deals. For this work, Da Costa signed formal contracts with his employers and earned a significant amount of money.
Most of the definite information historians have about Da Costa comes from a few letters and contracts relating to his employment, but even these are fraught with uncertainties and missing information. One such contract, signed by Da Costa, shows that he was contracted with a Normandy merchant named Nicolas de Bauquemare from January 1, 1609, to January 1, 1612. According to the agreement, Da Costa would join the team of Pierre Dugua de Mons, a French explorer with plans to travel to Canada, which was, at that time, a distant land poorly understood by Europeans. Da Costa would use his linguistic skills and knowledge of pidgin communication in business to help create new trade deals with Native Americans and First Nations peoples.
This information provided a strong suggestion that Da Costa was involved in the North American explorations of de Mons or the more famous navigator Samuel de Champlain, who were known for their missions to the French colony of Acadia and the areas around the St. Lawrence River. Many historians have accepted this as a likelihood. However, other evidence casts uncertainty. A document dated June 15, 1609, marked de Bauquemare’s cancellation of Da Costa’s employment contract. The merchant claimed that Da Costa “violated its terms,” though specific details were not stated and the accuser only described the misdeed as “insolence.”
Apparently, de Bauquemare felt the violation had been substantial, since he pursued legal action against Da Costa, resulting in the latter man’s arrest and imprisonment in Le Havre, France, in December 1609. Though the details of the case are unknown, some modern historians take Da Costa’s side and have suggested that de Bauquemare’s charges were false, exaggerated, or motivated by racism. Regardless, the planned expeditions continued without Da Costa.
Legal activity relating to Da Costa’s situation continued until 1619, but give no biographical information about his whereabouts at that time, meaning he could have been freed, gone on further undocumented voyages, or even died. No other solid evidence is known to exist to conclude Da Costa’s story.
Impact
The exact details of Da Costa’s life are few, and his contributions to transcontinental exploration are uncertain. Many people hail him as the first Black person to visit Canada—which is a definite possibility, though far from certain. Regardless, Da Costa remains an interesting character from history, representing a point of contact between Europeans and Africans in the early days of exploration and long-distance sea trade. Da Costa is notable for his fluent use of numerous languages as well as his understanding of cultural mores and business customs from multiple groups of people, African, European, and possibly North American.
Personal Life
No information is known to exist of his personal life.
Bibliography
Fischer, David Hackett. Champlain’s Dream: The Visionary Adventurer Who Made a New World in Canada. Vintage Canada / Random House, 2009.
Johnston, A. J. B., and Parks Canada, Halifax. “Mathieu Da Costa and Early Canada: Possibilities and Probabilities.” The National Parks and National Historic Sites of Canada, parkscanadahistory.com/publications/portroyal/dacosta-e.pdf. Accessed 3 July 2023.
“Mathieu Da Costa.” My Seneca / Seneca College, students.senecacollege.ca/spaces/228/black-history-month/articles/news/4415/mathieu-da-costa. Accessed 3 July 2023.
Millette, Dominique, Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert, and Jessica Poulin. “Mathieu Da Costa.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 7 Feb. 2023, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mathieu-da-costa. Accessed 3 July 2023.
Rudin, Ronald. Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie: A Historian’s Journey through Public Memory. University of Toronto Press, 2009.
Weidensaul, Scott. The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.