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Black Loyalist Heritage Society of Birchtown, Nova Scotia

At a Glance The Black Loyalist Heritage Society was formally incorporated in 1991 to preserve Birchtown's Black Loyalist history. The Society uses GIS to map and protect historic sites and to move genealogical and architectural research forward. Almost 30 community members, including Society staff and summer students, have been trained in GIS and GPS data collection.

The work of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society of Birchtown, Nova Scotia goes well beyond local and regional issues. With the financial assistance of the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) -a component of GeoConnections- the Society is using GIS to preserve and protect the history of the Black Loyalists in Canada, not only for Canadians, but people around the world who have Black Loyalist roots. "We've been collecting genealogical and archeological data since 1993," said Debra Hill, the Society's genealogist. "Before GIS we didn't have a way to manage all of it." A chance move by Heather MacLeod-Leslie, a consultant with the Society, to Nova Scotia got the Society involved with SCI. Prior to her move, Ms. MacLeod-Leslie had worked with Natural Resources Canada's Centre for Remote Sensing in Ottawa and knew about the initiative. "The Society had data

and GIS software but no one had shown them how to use it or what its potential was," she said. Ms. MacLeod-Leslie helped Birchtown prepare its plan and was responsible for the GIS/GPS training sessions.

GIS has proven its worth in protecting historic sites that otherwise would have been lost to history. The Irving family, best known for its oil interests, owns land in Birchtown and had been clear cutting in some areas of historic significance. "We brought it to their attention and are negotiating with them. In the meantime they've held off on the clear cutting," said Ms. Hill. "Without the GIS and GPS data we wouldn't have even known what they were doing or whether the area was a heritage site or not."

Another site, Fox Ridges, was originally slated to be the home of a new regional landfill. A group of concerned citizens had formed in 1990 to protect it and now, with the help of GIS mapping, the site will be preserved for future generations.

Old and new data are being merged. For example, the Society has an 18th Century map of the area that has now been geo-referenced and combined with new map coordinates to make it a more robust land management tool.

Within a year, the Society has trained almost 30 people in GIS and GPS technology. "On the final day of the last training session we included projects that were specific to the trainees' interests," said Ms. MacLeod-Leslie. "That really helped solidify how this information could be relevant to their day-to-day job or volunteer activities."

Along with staff, summer students and community members, the Society trained members of two other prospective SCI communities: Wagmatcook and Whycocomagh. "The idea was to give the Cape Breton people, who had no exposure to GIS but knew what they wanted to do, some idea of what to expect," said Sophie Sliwa, Community Advisor with SCI.

A proud moment for the Society was a visit by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson. "We had mapped out the Heritage Walking Trail using GPS and GIS," explained Ms. Hill, "but we didn't get it done until late in the year, after the tourist season, so Ms. Clarkson is the first VIP to travel this trail." The 800 metre trail winds its way from the museum, wraps around the burying grounds and passes a replica of a 'pit house.'

Pit houses were often the first year dwellings of the Black Loyalists. Many Black Loyalists, who had not been supplied with lumber or nails like their white loyalist neighbours, simply dug a hole in the ground and placed a peaked roof over it as immediate shelter from the weather. The replica was reconstructed by the Society's archeologist, Laird Niven, specifically for Her Excellency's visit.

The Society continues to collect and convert its data and input it into their GIS system and are also taking the message of its project to other communities. "We have made presentations in Weymouth, Queen's and Guysborough, not just for this particular technology, but when we go in to do presentations for the Society, we always bring up SCI and what they've done for us," said Ms. Hill. "Without SCI I wouldn't have known anything about it. I'd still be writing things up on paper!"

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