Tantramar Marshes

The Tantramar Marshes are a National Wildlife Area on the southern part of the Isthmus of Chignecto, which joins Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and the Canadian mainland.

The marshes penetrate inland from the Bay of Fundy for 10 kilometers. Acadians, who called the region "Beaubassin", built dikes in the early 1700s to stop the tidal influx of salt water, creating rich agricultural land on the deep sedimentary soils.

The name "Tantramar" is derived from the Acadian French "Tintamarre", meaning 'din' or 'racket', a reference to the noisy flocks of birds which feed there. The marshes are an important stopover for migrating waterfowl such as semi-palmated Sandpipers and Canada Geese. Today the marshes are the site of two bird sanctuaries.

In the past, the Tantramar Marshes were called the "World's Largest Hayfield". The hay was shipped for commercial sale along the Eastern Seaboard and Europe as late as the 1930s. As a salt marsh, with its rich, sticky, red mud and soil, the hay grown there is high in iodine. In a world where food additives were not yet being used, iodine-rich hay made the Tantramar a valuable source for healthy, high quality fodder.

A few historic hay barns still dot the landscape. In the 1930's there were over 400 post-and-beam hay barns scattered across the marsh. Today there are less than 30.

The following rivers drain from and around the marshes:

* Aulac River
* LaPlanche River
* Missaguash River
* Tantramar River

Tantramar Region

Over time, the marshes have come to identify the overall inter-provincial region and include the following communities:

Nova Scotia
* Amherst
* Amherst Point
* East Amherst
* Fort Lawrence
* West Amherst

New Brunswick
* Aulac
* British Settlement
* Halls Hill
* Jolicure
* Middle Sackville
* Midgic
* Mount Whatley
* Point de Bute
* Sackville
* Upper Point de Bute
* Upper Sackville
* Westcock

The Tantramar Heritage Trust is a charity dedicated to preserving heritage resources related to this region.

In The Arts

The landscape of the Tantramar Marshes has inspired such artists as the poets Charles G.D. Roberts and Douglas Lochhead, and the photographer Thaddeus Holownia.

External links

* [http://www.troyandnaomi.com/photography/Tantramar-Marsh/Tantramar-Marsh.htm Photography of the Tantramar Marshes] .
* [http://www.mta.ca/marshland/index.htm Marshland: Records of Life on the Tantramar | MTA Archives] .
* [http://www.placeopedia.com/?5798 Placeopedia.com map of the Tantramar Marshes] .
* [http://www.acadian-home.org Acadian Ancestral Home - a repository for Acadian history & genealogy]
* [http://www.billhamiltonflashback.ca/ Bill Hamilton Flashback — an informative and entertaining look at the history and people of the Tantramar region]

Further reading

*"Maritime dykelands: The 350 Year Struggle", published by the Province of Nova Scotia, 1987