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African Nova Scotian Culture

People of African descent have made Nova Scotia their home for more then 400 years. Their history includes the stories of many diverse groups – Loyalists, Maroons, Caribbeans, Refugees and others – sewn together through a common African ancestry.

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African Nova Scotians have called Nova Scotia home for more than 400 years. The first to arrive was explorer and translator for Samuel de Champlain, Mathieu de Costa, who helped build relationships with Mi’kmaq in the early 1600s. In the years that followed, Black settlers from both French and English backgrounds settled in towns like Annapolis Royal. Others were also transported to Louisbourg to work  as enslaved people.

A group of people speak with a museum interpreter at the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre in Birchtown, Nova Scotia.
Visiting the Africville Museum a World UNESCO site
Visiting the Africville Museum

More than a century later, over 3,000 Black Loyalists fled to Nova Scotia to escape the aftermath of the American War of Independence. In the decades that followed, they were joined by the Jamaican Maroons – a group emancipated and freed Africans rooted from Jamaica to Nova Scotia – and Black refugees from the American Civil War escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad.

Many African Nova Scotians made a home in the community of Africville, on the edge of the Halifax Harbour. The thriving community stood for over a century, until it was displaced to make room for Halifax’s industrial expansion in the 1960s. Although the physical community no longer stands, its spirit lives on. Along with 51 other African Nova Scotian communities across the Nova Scotia that continue to thrive through the spirit of their culture, history and ancestors.

Experience African Nova Scotian History and Culture

Black Loyalist Heritage Centre

Black Loyalist Heritage Centre

The Black Loyalist Heritage Site, located in Birchtown on Nova Scotia’s South Shore, shares the story of the Black Loyalists – free men and women who fought for the British during the American Revolution and won their freedom.

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Black Cultural Center for Nova Scotia

Established in 1983 by the Black Cultural Society of Nova Scotia led by Rev. Dr. William Pearly Oliver, the Centre has a mandate to protect, preserve and promote a unique history that spans well over 400 years in this province.

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Africville Museum UNESCO site

Africville Museum

First settled in the 1860s, Africville was a thriving African Nova Scotian community nestled on the edge of Halifax Harbour. In the 1960s, its buildings were destroyed and residents displaced to free up land for Halifax’s industrial expansion

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Army Museum, Halifax Citadel National Historic Site

The museum tells the powerful and compelling stories of soldiers of Nova Scotia. From the munitions to the medals to the service and sacrifice, no detail is spared. The Army Museum is the story of a nation. On the battlefield and off. Across over a century of conflict. Don’t miss it!

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Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site

Home to the L’nu, also known as the Mi’kmaq, since time immemorial, the 18th century brought French, Basque, German, English, Irish, Scottish, and African people to its shores.

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African Nova Scotia Museums and Points of Interest

Black Loyalist Heritage Centre
  • Clean It Right
  • Museum/Historic Site
  • UNESCO Site

Black Loyalist Heritage Centre

From June 1 to October 15

South Shore, Birchtown
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Other Cultures in Nova Scotia

People view the art at the Millbrook Cultural & Heritage Centre

Mi’kmaw Culture

This rugged, sea-swept peninsula has been home to the Mi’kmaq (Mee-gmah) people for over 11,000 years. Their culture, language, stories, music, and art emerges from their profound connection to this natural environment.

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Musicians performing on stage at Acadian Day celebration

Acadian Culture

The spirit of l’Acadie runs deep in Nova Scotia. Vivid reminders of the intrepid French settlers, who first arrived in Nova Scotia in the seventeenth century, can be found throughout the province.

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A man playing piano

Gaelic Culture

By at least the early 1770s immigrants from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland came by the tens of thousands and made Nova Scotia their home. These settlers called themselves Gàidheil (Gaels), i.e. ones whose language and cultural expression is Gaelic.

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