Key Points
- Artist Jully Black sang the Canadian national anthem at an NBA All-Star Game but changed a notable lyric.
- Instead of singing "home and native land", Black intentionally sang "home on native land".
- The change thrust Canada's mistreatment of First Nations people in the 18th and 19th centuries into the spotlight.
When Jully Black took to the NBA basketball court to sing Canada's national anthem, she knew what she was about to do would turn heads.
Over the weekend, Black was invited to perform the Canadian anthem "O Canada" at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City - where she made a small but significant change in the words of the song.
Instead of singing "our home and native land", she sang: "our home on native land."
It was only a one-word change, but it made a world of difference for Canada's First Nations people who praised the performer's intentional tweak.
In an interview with BBC following her performance, Black said the current national anthem is a lie and will refuse to sing the words that imply the native land is not the home of Canadians.
"That was the most purposeful performance, meaningful and present I've been in my life," she said.
Jully Black altered the lyrics of the Canadian national anthem during the NBA All-Star Game. Source: Getty / Joe Murphy
While Black received some heated criticism online over the wording change, accusing her of division, several others praised her for vocalising what they believe is a significant conversation to have around Canada's past mistreatment of its people.
Following the performance, the hashtag #ourhomeonnativeland began trending on Twitter, with viewers praising the small but symbolic change to feel recognised.
"Could you imagine an entire community feeling invisible and forgotten about, and for even a moment in time, you're like, 'wow, us? You mean us? you're thinking about us? You want to hear our stories?' That means everything to me," Black said.
Advocacy group On Canada Project lashed out against critics of Black's anthem change, stating the mistreatment of Canada's Indigenous people is what people should be outraged over instead.
"It's not a cute look to get offended about a one-time lyric change to a national anthem most of you haven't thought about or sung since high school," the group said in a statement on Instagram.
The NBA has one Canadian team (the Toronto Raptors), with both the United States and Canadian anthems sung at the game.
Canada's uncomfortable truth with its First Nations people
The subtle anthem change thrust Canada's colonial history into the spotlight, as the nation continues to grapple with the mistreatment faced by its First Nations people.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, it's estimated up to 150,000 First Nations children were separated from their families and placed into residential schools, banning any implementation of their cultural practices.
In 2019, the country's National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls found that Canada committed genocide against its First Nations people.
Hundreds of children's remains were found in 2021 at their largest residential school, which triggered anger among the country's Indigenous population. Graves found at these government-funded schools have amounted to more than 1,000 so far.
The last change made to the Canadian anthem was in 2018 when the last line was changed to become gender-neutral from "all thy sons command" to "all of us command".
Australia's national anthem change
It wasn't too long ago when Australia was forced to confront the controversies that surrounded the language of its own national anthem.
On 1 January 2021, Australia's Governor-General David Hurley from "we are young and free", to "we are one and free".
The then-prime minister Scott Morrison made the surprise announcement the day before, saying the change was made for "all Australians".
"Changing 'young and free' to 'one and free' takes nothing away, but I believe it adds much," he said at the time.
In December 2020, Australia's rugby team the Wallabies sang the national anthem in both English and Eora language in Sydney against Argentina.
It was the first time the anthem has been performed at an international event.
