Nova Scotia has deep connections to northern regions—to Labrador, Greenland, and the eastern Arctic—stretching back thousands of years. A vital crossroads on land and at sea, the province has, for thousands of years, connected people in the north to those in lands beyond. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic’s 2016 temporary exhibit tracks these links as they shift and grow stronger over time, bringing peoples and cultures together across land, sea, and ice.

Discover the harsh and beautiful landscapes that connect Nova Scotia and the north, the abundant wildlife that these landscapes support, and the rich cultures that indigenous peoples and later arrivals built on these resources. Learn the stories of hunters who tracked seals and whales in elegant skin-covered kayaks, of explorers who struggled to adapt familiar ways of living to an unfamiliar world, of scientists who study the impact of changing climate on the lives of those who call the north home. See the role that Nova Scotia has played in making Canada a truly northern nation.

Younger visitors to North from Nova Scotia can board an interactive icebreaker and imagine themselves clearing a path to the North Pole. They can examine a mysterious cairn containing important information on how to live in and move through harsh landscapes and climates. Come and visit the museum ship CSS Acadia, our 103-year-old veteran of Canada’s northern waters. See our original Greenland sealskin kayak, and its working replica built specially for this exhibit.

In both past and present, Nova Scotia acts as a bridge between places in the north and the world beyond. Come and see the many ways that this place links the peoples, landscapes, and cultures of this northern realm.