The hearts of our founding cultures are still beating, proud and strong, in Nova Scotia. The centuries of vibrant Mi’kmaq, Acadian, Celtic, and Africian cultures give Nova Scotia its distinctive voice and character.
The spirit of l’Acadie runs deep here. From the towering churches of the seaside villages to the beauty of the masterfully-created hooked rugs,
Acadian culture infuses much of Nova Scotia with its vibrancy, jaunty rhythms and the romance of its history and language.
Since the 1780s when
Black Loyalists began an exodus from the United States at the close of the War of Independence. Nova Scotia has been both a safe haven for slaves, refugees, and immigrants of African and Caribbean descent, and a hard place to make a home. That history is honoured here and the influence of Black Nova Scotians spreads far and wide.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, tens of thousands of
Scottish and Irish immigrants chose these shores on the edge of a budding new world as the place they would call home. The strength of the Gaelic culture, music, history and language has endured here for three centuries, living and breathing in everyday life.
For ten thousand years, this rugged, sea-swept peninsula has been home to the
Aboriginal people. One of four founding cultures of Nova Scotia genealogy, the gifts of the Mi’kmaq people – their legends, art, music, spirituality, history, and language - enrich the very essence of this maritime province.