This is How Halifax/Kjipuktuk Got its Name[s]: A Brief Primer

Have you ever wondered where the name(s) Halifax/Kjipuktuk came from?

You’re not alone, so we decided to dive in and answer this question. Here’s how Halifax/Kjipuktuk got its name(s):

Kjipuktuk

The Mi’kmaw know this region we call Halifax as Kjipuktuk, or “Great Harbour.” In “‘History of Halifax’ — A Mi’kmaw perspective,” the Sipekne’katik First Nations member Michael William McDonald explains how Mi’kmaq Clans first established permanent villages in Kjipuktuk and used the coves in the Harbour for protection.

The area extending from what is now downtown Halifax to Point Pleasant Park was known as “Amntu’kati,” or “spirit place” in English. The Mi’kmaq believed that the Great Spirit Fire, whose sparks gave birth to the seven original Mi’kmaq families, sat here. The Mi’kmaq would gather at Amntu’kati after the first full moon in the spring for a ceremony celebrating the creation of the Mi’kmaq people, and this is partly why Kjipuktuk was so closely guarded.

In his memoirs, the well-known European explorer Samuel de Champlain even writes about avoiding Kjipuktuk because it was common knowledge the Mi’kmaq would attack outsiders.

As European fishing boats increased along the shoreline, however, contact with the Mi’kmaq became more prevalent. The spreading of diseases brought on by these early interactions would have devastating consequences: the Mi’kmaq population began to slowly decrease and they were unable to continue protecting Amntu’kati to the same degree.

To read an extensive history that details both the decimation of the Mi’kmaq population along with their resistance to English colonialism, see McDonald’s article here.

halifax

By the early 1700s there was a permanent British settlement in the region now known as Halifax.

The British government then selected the area for its first settlement plan in North America because it is the second largest, ice-free harbour in the world. A fortified town was established in 1749 with about 2500 settlers, mostly of low socioeconomic status and from England.

Originally named Chebucto, it was renamed Halifax in honour of George Dunk, Earl of Halifax and Chief Lord of Trade and Plantations — the mastermind behind the settlement.

The peerage, Halifax -— a rank or dignity — refers to Halifax, West Yorkshire in England.

Lead Photo: Alex Tapia