Canadian R&B singer Jully Black honoured at AFN ceremony for NBA anthem rendition

OTTAWA –

Canadian R&B singer Jully Black was honoured at an AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa Monday night for making an appreciated tweak to the Canadian national anthem at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah in February.

The Juno Award-winner had swapped out one word in the anthem’s usual opening line “O Canada! Our home and native land!” with “O Canada! Our home on native land” to recognize the Indigenous peoples who lived on the land before European settlers.

Black was presented with an eagle feather and wrapped with a blanket during a Blanketing Ceremony by AFN Knowledge Keepers and National Chief RoseAnne Archibald.

The singer said she was “grateful” while holding back tears, adding “I didn’t realize that my action would garner such a response.”

Black said, “On behalf of the Black community, I say we are one. We’re better together.”

After the presentation of the blanket and feather, Black reprised her rendition of “O Canada” for the assembly, again including “home on native land,” which prompted cheers from the crowd.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2023