Interpreting and Translation on the Canadian West Coast at the Time of the Maritime Explorations and the Early Days of the Fur Trade on the Coast, 1774-1800
Interpreting did not play a significant part in the explorations by sea because contacts with the natives were brief. Fur traders, though, realised that they could obtain more furs when they could communicate with the natives through interpreters. Many merchants also tried to learn native languages and compiled bilingual vocabularies. During the Nootka controversy, in the early 1790s, talks and letters between Vancouver and Bodega had to be translated: therefore, interpreting and translation were absolutely necessary.