Acadian Culture Online

To complement this summer's Acadian celebrations, Nova Scotia Archives has introduced two new website resources that showcase Acadian culture.

The first is Acadian Heartland, a digitized, fully searchable electronic version of the surviving records of the British government at Annapolis Royal between 1713 and 1749. The second exhibit, This is Our Home: Acadians of Nova Scotia, celebrates the last 150 years of Acadian culture and continuity.

"These online resources provide Acadians everywhere with improved and expanded access to their history," said Rodney MacDonald, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "They also demonstrate the ongoing commitment of the Archives to make more of Nova Scotia's Acadian documentary heritage available on the Internet."

Acadian Heartland provides a snapshot of life in Nova Scotia in the years after Acadia became a British possession in 1713, leading up to the deportation after 1755. The records focus on the Annapolis-Minas corridor -- the heartland of Acadia -- but there is also significant coverage on other French settlements throughout mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.

Reading like news bulletins from the past, the documents provide information about families and individuals, community and economic history, land tenure, the administration of justice, trade and commerce, natural resources, relations with the Mi'kmaq and interaction between Acadians and the British authorities.

The electronic version of the records, including bilingual content, was developed by the Nova Scotia Archives in co- operation with the Office of Acadian Affairs.

The Acadian Heartland exhibit will remain online indefinitely as a bilingual educational resource for students, a reference tool for community museums, and a genealogical resource for Acadians researching their family history.

"Anyone interested in exploring the Acadian experience in colonial Nova Scotia can now do so and this will add to their knowledge and understanding of what happened so long ago," said provincial archivist Brian Speirs.

This is Our Home: Acadians of Nova Scotia, uses three dozen heritage photographs to illustrate Acadian reliance upon the land and sea, document the record of built heritage, provide insight into social activities, and showcase traditional dress and handcrafts.

This exhibit is also on display at the Public Archives Building, 6016 University Ave., Halifax, until Oct. 31.

The Acadian Heartland and This is Our Home: Acadians of Nova Scotia are on the Archives' website in a new section devoted to Acadian online resources, at www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/acadian.asp .