Wikipedia Case Study: Thanadelthur
Thanadelthur's Wikipedia Page
Analytical Conclusions
Thanadelthur was a Dene Chipewyan native woman who lived in Canada from 1697 to 1717. Her legacy is carried down by the Dene people through oral histories, and through the histories recorded in journals from the English who recruited her help during that time. Her wikipedia page was filled with a brief outline and history of her life. It discussed an overview of how she arrived at the Hudson Bay Company, that she negotiated peace between the Cree, the Chipewyan, and the English at the HBC in order to open up trade passages for fur suppliers.
The article gave a brief history on a woman who is now a National Historic Person of Canada, and was recognized for her intellect and her importance in creating peace. The article did not, however, go into much detail about what the terms of this peace was, or how she received her name: Thanadelthur. As most wikipedia pages and editing rules state, you are supposed to put the facts and not include historical critical thinking. With this page, the facts were minimal, and the sources were basic ones from Canadian historical websites. These websites included: The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, and Canada’s History, where she is described as a definition of “1700’s girl power.” By adding to this article, I believe I was able to add more visibility towards her culture, and to the way she was received with the Hudson Bay Company.
I added in the part that discusses her name and the meaning of it to the Dene culture. According to the archives of Manitoba, her name was something that was passed down through the Dene oral tradition. While her history was written by James Knight, a European who governed the HBC during this time, native culture kept her memory alive by stories. Names, especially in tribal cultures, always held meaning. I felt it was important to include more of a personal background to Thanadelthur, who was praised as the “Slave Woman” in all of James Knight’s journals during the time, according to Sylvia Van Kirk. Van Kirk was the main source of information on Thanadelthur, with her thesis on the women of the fur trade during the 1700’s to the 1850’s, and her analysis on the importance of these native women. Their importance was in the fact that they were even mentioned. Instead of allowing her to only be mentioned as “Slave Woman,” the importance of how she received her name and the properties of the Dene culture it included added a deeper understanding of her life outside of the HBC.
In addition to this, the clarification on the “peace agreement” between the HBC, the Cree, and the Chipewyan was also inadequate. Unfortunately, I was unable to find if there ever was an actual name for these terms, or for the treaty itself. From my understanding from Van Kirk’s paper, "The role of women in the fur trade society of the Canadian west 1700- 1850,” there was no official document between the natives and the HBC. James Knight and William Stuart were instead able to use Thanadelthur as a translator to open up passage for the fur trade.
I believe that her influence over the English during this time was beneficial to the HBC and their ability to create a larger trade network in the area they were attempting to colonize. Not only was she a symbol of natives helping the colonists, but also how the colonizers viewed Native Americans. This class had a theme of parts of violence mixed with periods of coexistence between the Natives and the Europeans. Thanadelthur’s story, one where she is credited with this great event, shows just that. While she was necessary to the victory for the HBC, James Knight’s journals also reflect the time period’s view of the savage. Giving her the name “Slave Woman Joan” shows the Europeanization of a woman who already had a name, and had a purpose among her own tribe. Adding “Joan,” in reference to Joan of Arc, showed Knight’s attempt to create a new vision of the woman who was helping them. He even found the ability to write about how finding another one of her after her death cost him a large amount of money.
My contribution to Thanadelthur’s story was an attempt to create a larger picture of the woman that was previously outlined. There were small sections of facts mixed with vague sentences about how much James Knight was overjoyed, and how she was called “Slave Woman” at one point with little context. Her overarching effects as a Native woman during this time was not overlooked in the Dene culture, and bringing more of her culture into her wikipedia article will hopefully portray that fact.
Wikipedia can be useful if it is used correctly. We’ve always been told not to use wikipedia as any kind of factual information, or as a source for anything, because “anyone” can go online and add what they want. While that is true, by doing this project, I saw how most of the larger topics of today are monitored almost hourly by people whose job it is to do. I feel like this helps audit what is being put online, but it also allowed me to understand where to find out where this information can come from. Wikipedia can be a good place to go for sources that are cited at the bottom. People who managed to do actual research with secondary sources are beneficial. The writing factor played a big role in this as well. Wikipedia reverses the idea we usually have about writing sentences towards an argument, presenting facts as examples to prove it, and then finishing it off. Wikipedia makes you write in a concise manner, asking for just the facts written for people to quickly find what they were looking for. There is a talk page for people to leave reviews about what is on the page, and for students going in to revise incorrect information, it helps with their research methods. Finding secondary sources, and even recognizing where to get pictures for wikipedia, can be a helpful research tool for people who are new to researching.
