Ecum Secum
Ecum Secum is a rural community on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in both the Halifax Regional Municipality and Guysborough County, [Nova Scotia|Guysborough County]. Located along the shores of Ecum Secum Harbour, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the community is located roughly east of Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia, southwest of Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia, and approximately east of Downtown Halifax along the Marine Drive on Trunk 7. Several communities along the western shore of the harbour also share the name, including Ecum Secum Bridge and Ecum Secum West.
Etymology
The origin of the name Ecum Secum is unclear. The name is thought to be a corruption of a Mi'kmaq language term, with previous spellings of the name including Ekamsagen and Ekemsikam. The spelling had changed to its current form by the time a post office was established there in 1873, or as early as 1845. Some have disputed the name's Mi'kmaq origin; according to Robert MacGregor Dawson in his 1960 paper on Nova Scotia place names, the Mi'kmaq referred to the area as Megawasagank, meaning "a red house". In Place-Names and Places of Nova Scotia, the Mi'kmaq name for the area is listed as Agwaseegunk or Megwasaagunk, with the same meaning given. The Mi'kmaw Place Names Digital Atlas, released in 2015, provides the Mi'kmaq language name for Ecum Secum as Mekwe'saqnuk, translating to "at the red bank".