WHITEWASH

By Nadine Valcin

Whitewash examines slavery in Canada and its omission from the national narrative. The country prides itself as being a benevolent refuge where enslaved Africans who were brought to United States gained their freedom via the Underground Railroad. That powerful image overshadows the fact that slavery was legal in Canada for over 200 years under both French and British rule. Whitewash brings to light some of the slave families that were brought to Prince Edward Island by Loyalists and looks at how nine generations of descendants have assimilated to the point of leaving very few visible traces of their origins.