When not blogging and travelling, I work as a Sign Language Interpreter. Did you know…

…Mathieu Da Costa is credited with being the first Black person in Canada? He came in the early 1600s and worked as an interpreter for the French and Dutch. He was said to have worked in this same capacity for Samuel de Champlain, the “Father of New France”.

Little is known about Da Costa. It is believed he spoke several languages, including a pidgin (Basque) which was understood by the indigenous groups, the Mi’kmaq and Montagnais.

While I can’t claim ancestry to him, I do share in his spirit of combining travel and languages.

Read more about Da Costa