Canadian singer-songwriter Jully Black caused a stir with a small change to her country's national anthem before the NBA All-Star game in Salt Lake City Sunday night. Instead of singing "O Canada, our home and native land," Black clearly sang "O Canada, our home on native land," a change that the Toronto Star describes as "a subtle but impactful reference to Canada’s colonial legacy and ongoing dispossession of Indigenous people." Black told TSN's Kayla Grey that she had made the change after speaking to Indigenous friends. "We’ve been singing this anthem since kindergarten. And now, in the last three years, especially with Indigenous rights and what’s going on in our country and the history and the learning, I too am learning," she said.
"I got some feedback, and so I really dissected the lyrics, to really sing it with intention," Black said. "Now I’m singing it in a whole other meaningful way." The change was widely praised on social media, with some commenters saying it should be made official and permanent. the Toronto Sun reports. Some critics spoke out as well, saying it was "disrespectful" to change the lyrics of the national anthem. In 2016, Canadian lawmakers approved a change to gender-neutral language in the English-language version of the anthem. (More O Canada stories.)
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