‘She was our hero’: Nora Bernard’s name replaces Cornwallis on Halifax street

HALIFAX, N.S. —

Standing under a brand-new street sign in Halifax emblazoned with her mother’s name, the emotions were overwhelming for Natalie Gloade.

“It’s such an honour to be one of the adult daughters of the late Nora Bernard. She was such an incredible leader and a sacred being,” Gloade said under grey skies spitting rain on Monday morning. “She walked very softly but she had the stance of a million people.”

For many years, this street in downtown Halifax was named after Edward Cornwallis, the founder of Halifax and governor of Nova Scotia. He issued a scalping proclamation that offered bounties for the deaths of Mi’kmaw men, women, and children. In recent years, his name has been removed from a Halifax park, school and coast guard ship and roadways across the province.

At a ceremony that started at the nearby Emera Oval followed by a short walk over to Nora Bernard Street, Mi’kmaw leaders and Bernard’s family talked about erasing the former name and honouring a Mi’kmaw legend, residential school survivor and fierce advocate for her people.

“We do this for Nora because if not for Nora, all this wouldn’t be taking place,” said Marilyn Francis, cousin of Nora Bernard.

A good start

It’s never been right, said Catherine Martin, a Mi’kmaw artist and activist who knew Bernard.

She said Corwallis and others had the idea that “it was OK to hunt my ancestors … to hunt to kill and scalp them and for that, Cornwallis was given the honour of names of our rivers, towns, of this street,” she said.

She said this is a good start in honouring Bernard.

“It hasn’t been enough (for) someone who has made history along with all of her colleagues, the residential school survivors,” Martin said. “The largest class-action lawsuit in the history of Canada was led by Nora.”

Natalie said in her speech that the history books need changing.

“Not the lies that we were told and led to believe that we were the savages. We were not the savages, we were the helpers, the caretakers. We were the ones that shared love.”

Natalie said that her mother was born in poverty and lived a hard life but she didn’t really understand all that her mother accomplished until after Bernard, 72,  was murdered by Natalie’s son, James Gloade, in 2007. 

“I apologize from the bottom of my soul for the loss of our dear mother and knowing that it was my son who was named as her murderer — I stand very tall. Mom stood for forgiveness and accountability.”

Natalie also mentioned her late brother, Jason Brian Bernard, who passed away weeks ago and that they had hoped that he would have been there for the ceremony.

A long road

After 18 months of consultations and surveys regarding the name change and thousands of suggestions, Nora Bernard was voted by the community as the top choice and approved by Halifax Regional Council in December 2022.

Councillors received a lot of racist pushback, said Coun. Lindell Smith (Halifax Peninsula North), but they persevered.

“We received many emails from people with truthfully racist rhetoric, discriminative rhetoric and … when those emails came in, we defended this process.”

But the finalist vote showed overwhelmingly that people wanted Nora Bernard’s name on that street sign, he said.

And Bernard’s story shows how one person can make a big difference in their community, Smith said.

It’s also an important street for the African Nova Scotian community, he noted, as the New Horizons Baptist Church (formerly Cornwallis Street Baptist Church) was founded by Richard Preston in 1832.

“So, we are just as excited to recognize somebody who was fighting for their people,” Smith said.

Strong Woman Song

Danielle Gloade sang and drummed The Strong Woman Song for the crowd on Monday. She said she was picturing her grandmother Nora Bernard wearing a big smile “surprised but really proud that this is being actualized.”

Natalie said if Bernard was here, she would say someone else should have been named because she was a very humble person.

“She was our hero. I think she would be proud of what she taught us, all the lessons she taught.”