'Our home on native land': how one small lyric change caught the country's attention

Legendary Canadian R&B singer Jully Black had been hoping to sing the national anthem at an NBA game for years. When she finally got the call, she knew she had to make the most of it.

And for her, that meant making one small adjustment.

Black was invited to sing the Canadian national anthem ahead of the 2023 NBA All-Star game between Team Giannis and Team LeBron in Salt Lake City this past weekend.

As she began to sing, audience members quickly noticed she'd made a point of singing "Oh Canada, our home on native land," instead of "our home and native land."

CBC Entertainment reported that while there were some online criticizing Black's rendition, the new lyrics appeared to draw a largely positive reaction on social media, with many using the hashtag #OurHomeOnNativeLand.

Black joined Elamin Abdelmahmoud on air to share what led to her decision, and what the reaction has been.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Listen, many of us feel so much emotion every time that we hear you sing, so I thank you for that. I want to go back to the moment where you find out that you're going to be singing O Canada at the All-Star Game. What were your initial feelings about that request?

Jully: I was extremely happy when I found out. It really is a testament of being patient and my faith, to be open with you. Almost four years ago when the Raptors were in the finals, and the city was lit up, everybody was saying to me, "you're gonna do that anthem. It's you." I wasn't even trying to declare it in a certain kind of way, but people were putting it on me. So it was like, "okay, let me believe this. Sure." And it didn't happen. I was extremely disappointed for various reasons, but at the time I let it go and I went straight into focusing on becoming Caroline in Caroline, or Change. So it's interesting. I realize that my assignment wasn't to do the anthem. My assignment was to focus on Caroline. And fast forward, right before New Year's, this email miraculously just popped into my email inbox, and the question was, "would Julie be interested in doing the anthem?" [Giving me] the option, very different than kind of begging to do the anthem. And so that's what happened, and things moved really fast.

Elamin: I think if you're a Jully Black fan then you know that there is no way you were going to miss with that performance. But you took the extra step of changing the line to "our home on native land." Why was that important for you to change?

Jully: So I turned down the anthem after all the things that we found out. I'm learning more about residential school, learning more about needing much more reconciliation — conversations that still need to be had for and with the Indigenous community. And so for many years, I said no. And of course this came around as a global opportunity. And I was like, "okay, let me at least ask some of my friends how they would feel about it." Because I knew I wanted to change it to "on," like that was on my heart, period. Because, I don't want this to be about Jully. Forgive me, I'm gonna just say it because people said it to me, "Don't get Fergie'd"…It's like, "okay, I'm going to get the the permission from Indigenous peoples who I love and respect, and I know they wouldn't leave me astray, and go from there."

Elamin: There was the moment in the performance when the camera is kind of moving across you as you give that line, and when you change it to "our home on native land," there's a really striking shot because you look sort of directly at the camera, like, "this is what we're doing. This is a conversation we're going to have, Canada." What was the online response like after that, do you think?

Jully: Unbelievable. My whole phone, everything was blowing up. People screaming, like I've never experienced this in my life, ever. I've done many huge events, and from Oprah to Bill Clinton to Jay-Z to this, this is what people are deeming as a heritage moment — it's surreal. I'm also representing my ancestors. I'm representing being a child of two immigrant parents that migrated to Canada to make life on Indigenous land. Because there's a whole other thing about "native," you know, I mean the terminology … I'm learning as well — there's more that needs to be updated in that anthem. I realize too, that in 2018 it was changed to be inclusive as far as gender.

Elamin: That's a change of "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command"

Jully: That's right. When I thought about it, I'm like, we went further into the anthem to speak about gender and what, skipped over whose land it is? Ours, it's not mine; I'm singing "our," it's not mine. So it was really, really intentional and it felt good, and I slowed it down on purpose.  

Elamin: Listen, it was impossible to miss. I guess my question is, there are people who might be questioning the reasoning behind that decision, who might think of O Canada as something that isn't something to be changed? What do you think they're missing?

Jully: I think they're missing the point, that there's been so much taken from Indigenous peoples and it's an opportunity to have a conversation and to impact change and to be a part of the change.… I'm looking for allyship, I'm looking for co-conspirators, I'm looking for people that will drive the getaway car. Take a risk for me. Put your job at stake. I've said that myself, but I haven't done it, so it's time to walk my talk.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

WATCH | Jully Black perform the national anthem at a 2023 NBA All-Star game in Utah: