Celebrating African heritage
For more than 20 years, Canadians have officially celebrated Black History Month in February, which here in Nova Scotia, we now refer to as African Heritage Month. That official recognition, which occurred in 1995, was the result of efforts from the Honourable Jean Augustine, who was the first black Canadian woman to be elected to Parliament. Black people have contributed much to Canadian culture throughout the centuries. According to the Library and Archives Canada, the first recorded black person to arrive in Canada was a man from Africa named Mathieu de Coste. De Coste was an interpreter of the Mi'kmaq language to the governor of Acadia. Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, thousands of Africans arrived in Canada, but their arrival was not voluntary. These men and women were slaves. This dark chapter in Canadian history did not begin to end until 1793, when the Upper Canada legislature passed an act that led to the gradual abolition of slavery. Canada would serve an important role in one of the more heroic stories to emerge during the era of slavery in North America. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and houses in the United States that aimed to help enslaved African Americans escape slavery. Library and Archives Canada notes that more than 30,000 slaves entered Canada via the Underground Railroad between 1793 and the end of the American Civil War in 1865. These slaves, who were granted their freedom upon arriving in Canada, settled mostly in southern Ontario, though many heroically returned to the United States to fight against the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. During the latter half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, many black people relocated to Canada in search of employment opportunities. However, in 1910 the Canadian government passed a new Immigration Act. This act marked another dark chapter in black history in Canada, as it barred immigrants deemed undesirable from entering the country. As a result, very few black people entered Canada in the ensuing decades. This discriminatory system of immigration was dropped in 1967, once again opening the doors for black immigrants to more easily enter Canada. This February, Canadians of all races can celebrate the achievements of black Canadians and the many hurdles they were forced to clear to make Canada their home.