O Canada…Our Home on Native Land
Controversy, A Clarion Call for Change and Collective Action
The NBA All-Star Weekend may have come and gone, but Jully Black’s powerful rendition of ‘O Canada’ national anthem will stay with many of us who witnessed and listened to the most eclectic, euphoric (I mean standing ovation!) and profound performance on Turtle Island. It is the most courageous, and emblematic act of truth, word, sound, power and fact of our generation.
The seminal performance of O Canada and the one-word change by Jully Black during her performance “…our home on native land…” brought the recognition to truth and reconciliation by that courageous act to the Indigenous peoples, who lived on the land before colonial settlers.
It was Church, it was R&B, it was fully, deeply soulFULL; her unique blend technique, power, range, performance, and connection left us stunned. My soul left the chat when she hit those runs. I mean, #CHILLS, right?”
Roy Perreault
Her reframing of the narrative in her rendition of the national anthem of Kanata (Canada) is an acknowledgment of the land…Turtle Island, which we all ought to rally behind. It is a most powerful and symbolic act that recognizes the Indigenous peoples on the land. Her performance gives recognition and situates Indigenous peoples’ rights, fights, lived experiences…
