HALIFAX, NS, July 30, 2024 /CNW/ - On August 1, 2024, Parks Canada, alongside the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, and the Jamaican Cultural Association of Nova Scotia, are pleased to present a series of events to honour and commemorate Emancipation Day and the enduring legacy of the Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia.

The full day of events will begin at 9:45 a.m. at Halifax Citadel National Historic Site with a special Emancipation Day flag raising and proclamation, followed by a special plaque unveiling ceremony to commemorate the national historic significance of the Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia.

The afternoon events begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 with the opening of the exhibit A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada, followed by an Emancipation Day roundtable discussion at the Black Cultural Centre at 4:00 p.m. with members of Canada's Parliamentary Black Caucus.

Please note that this advisory is subject to change without notice.

The details are as follows:

Proclamation and plaque unveiling

Exhibit opening

Roundtable discussion

Emancipation Day

• Emancipation Day is the day the Slavery Abolition Act became law in the British Empire and ended the practice of slavery for millions of African People and their descendants around the world. The Act became law on August 1, 1834, marking the first Emancipation Day.
• Emancipation Day is important because it allows all Canadians to acknowledge and hold open discussions about our shared history of the enslavement of people of African ancestry here in Canada.
• Everyone can and is encouraged to recognize Emancipation Day as it is a part of our shared history. Visit this website and our events page for a list of programs and events across Nova Scotia.

Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia

• The Government of Canada and Parks Canada, through the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, recognizes significant persons, places, and events that have shaped our country as one way of helping Canadians connect with their past. By sharing these stories with Canadians, we hope to foster understanding and reflection on the diverse histories, cultures, legacies, and realities of Canada's past and present.
• In 2022, the Jamaican Maroons in Nova Scotia was officially designated as an event of national historic significance under Parks Canada's National Program of Historical Commemoration. On August 1, the plaque will be unveiled at Halifax Citadel National Historic Site.
• The Jamaican Maroons were formerly enslaved peoples of African ancestry and their descendants who had lived in relative independence and isolation in Trelawny Town, Jamaica. In 1796, almost everyone from the town – approximately 150 families or more than 500 adults and children – were forcibly transported to the British colony of Nova Scotia. The experiences of the more than 500 Jamaican Maroons forcibly transported to Nova Scotia in 1796 exemplified the insecure rights and freedoms of African-descended British subjects in the late 18th century.

A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada

• The exhibit, A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada, runs from August 1, 2024, to January 5, 2025, at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Discover the experiences of enslaved Black people in Canada through individual biographies and archival records. Learn how slavery came to be in Canada and find out who were Canada's enslavers.
• Slavery played a significant role in the early settlement of Canada and its legacy can be seen and felt today.
• For more than two centuries, the majority of Africans in Canada were enslaved.
• From 1629 to 1834, both the French and British colonial regimes made laws that legalized slavery. Enslavers had property rights that allowed them to buy, sell, trade, and dispose of Black enslaved people in any way they wished.
• The enslavement of Black people in Canada was part of the larger system of the Transatlantic Slave Trade which tore upward of 12-15 million people from the shores of Africa to the Americas.

SOURCE Parks Canada (HQ)