HALIFAX, NS — When Haley and Nina Cox set sail on the Amistad they knew they were in for the journey of a lifetime, but the sisters didn't expect they would be raising awareness about a lesser-known chapter of Canadian history.

As student volunteers on a re-creation of the historic schooner, they helped educate people about the history of the slave trade and encountered questions about their own heritage.

"I met lots of people of African descent in the United States who didn't know anything about people of African descent living (in Nova Scotia)," said Haley Cox, 20, of Shelburne, N.S.

"It's pretty new to some people, this whole story of the Black Loyalists."

The Cox sisters are descendants of a group of more than 3,000 blacks who arrived in the province in 1783. The former slaves were granted their freedom by the British in exchange for siding with England during the American Revolution.

Now the Cox sisters and others in Nova Scotia are hoping to shed light on the story of the Black Loyalists as celebrations begin Tuesday marking the 225th anniversary of their arrival in the province.

The Amistad is part of those celebrations and will be in Halifax harbour until Aug. 5, when it sails to Shelburne.

The community of Birchtown, near Shelburne, was the largest free black community outside of Africa in the 1780s.

The British had promised land and provisions to the Black Loyalists in addition to their freedom, but few received any benefits.

After struggling for nine years to survive in Nova Scotia, nearly 1,200 Black Loyalists decided to make a fresh start and boarded 15 ships bound for Sierra Leone, where they helped establish Freetown, the capital of the country, as a haven for freed slaves.

The captain emeritus of the Amistad, Bill Pinkney, says that exodus by the Black Loyalists plays an important role in the story of the Amistad.

In 1839, the original Amistad was the site of a rebellion by 54 African-born slaves who demanded to be taken back to their homeland. In a historic human rights court case, the slaves won their freedom in the United States and returned to Freetown.

"(The Amistad) is part of the Sierra Leone connection which started here in Halifax," Pinkney said.

The present-day Amistad was built in the 1990s and sails the world with a crew and student volunteers like the Cox sisters.

Nina Cox, 19, spent three months on board the ship earlier this year, and Haley is still with the ship. The sisters agree the experience has helped connect them with their heritage.

Nina said she hopes the anniversary will do the same for other Nova Scotians.

"I hope this celebration will open people's eyes to the history," she said.

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