New tour tells Halifax's history through Indigenous, black perspectives

It's a sunny Saturday morningand a different kind of Halifax bus tour is about to set out for the first time, one that covers a side of Halifax's history not necessarilyhonoured withmemorials or plaques.

The tour guides are Isaac Saney, a Dalhousie University professor who specializes in blackNova Scotian history, and Billy Lewis, anIndigenous elder.

"They're going to hear a history they're not going to hear anywhere else," said Lewis.

The tour tells the history of Halifaxas it was lived by the city's Indigenous, blackand working-class populations, and is put on by Our Rising, a local non-profit. Saturday's tour was a pilot project, but to meet demandanother tour is planned fornext month.

Slave trading in downtown Halifax

The first stop is Queen Street,across from Citadel Hill.

"Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Canadahavea history of slavery, which people often don't know about and some people actually deny,"said Saney."So, going to theplaces where slaves were actually sold ... has a visceral impact on people. There is a deep reflection that takes place."

Turtle Grove

The next stop is in Dartmouth at what was once Turtle Grove, a small Mi'kmaq village located on the shorethat wasobliterated a century ago by the Halifax Explosionwhen two ships collided in the harbour.

"When that explosion occurred, the people in the Mi'kmaq community were standing on the shore," said Lewis."They werewiped out in a moment's notice."

Lewis saidmany Indigenous people died in thedisaster, but you wouldn't know thatfrom the history books.

Next, the bus drives over the MacKay Bridge toward Africville, a community that was demolished in the1960sso the bridge could be built.

Many of the residents in the community were descendents of former slaves from the United States,who were given their freedom in exchange for fighting for the British.

Over the years, the city of Halifax neglected Africville, refusing to bring in simple services like water and sewage.

A present-day reminder of the community's past is the replica church that houses theAfricvilleMuseum. The tour includes a visit there.

Dalhousie student Chris Fernandes is one of the people on the tour.

"I think we often glorify tourism as this fun and exciting thing," he said."To do a tour like this is not only just to see and look and take photos as tourists would, but to live it and understand it."

Dalhousie student Mary Macgowan saidthis isn't like any tour she's ever done.

"It gives you a more nuanced understanding of the actual history of the town, because otherwise you only know half of it," she said.

Halifax's changing north end

After a trip to the museum, the tour heads to the city's north end, ahistorically black, Indigenousand working-class neighbourhood that's rapidly changing, said Saney.

The tour goes past Uniacke Square, which is where Africville residents were relocated to after their community was demolished.

"Now condos are being built that are completely out of the price range of most of the members of the black Nova Scotian community and the Mi'kmaqwho live here," said Saney.

'We're not rewriting history. We're telling our history.'

The last stop on the tour is CornwallisPark, named after the city's founder, Edward Cornwallis. Near the centre of the park stands an empty platform that until earlier this year housed a statue in honour of Cornwallis.

Cornwallis put a bounty on the heads of Mi'kmaq people. Indigenous groups and others long protested, saying the statue should be taken down. Others argued the statue should remain,that removing it would erase history.

For Lewis, this spot encapsulates what his tour is trying to do. For him, removing the statue doesn't erase history it's a way of reclaiming the history of others that has long been erased.

"We're not rewriting history," he said."We're telling history. And for once, we're telling our history, and not yours."