World Series anthem outcry ignores truth of lyric change

On Oct. 27, in front of 11 million fans who watched Game 3 of the World Series, Toronto singer JP Saxe did what is now a fairly common act during his rendition of the Canadian national anthem.

He changed one word, replacing “Our home on native land” rather than using the official version: “Our home and native land.”

It’s far from the first time someone has done this.

In 2023, at the NBA all-star game in Salt Lake City, Toronto R&B singer Jully Black did the same thing.

Two months later, at a special Assembly of First Nations meeting, Black was honoured by chiefs; she was presented with an eagle feather and a star blanket, and invited to sing the anthem — a rarity at AFN meeting.

She sang it, repeating her one-word alteration (and has sang it this way since).

I’ve witnessed hundreds of Indigenous musicians perform this tiny change when asked to sing the national anthem.

In fact, I’d say it is an anomaly if an Indigenous singer doesn’t replace “and” with “on” to illustrate the fact that Canada is Indigenous territory.

The fact is, the world is changing.

We are all learning things many of us were never taught; things like Indigenous peoples were never the savage, uncivilized nomads described in textbooks but dynamic, complicated human beings with complex governments, laws and institutions.

Indigenous peoples invited the newcomers to come sit at the fire, offered treaty in order to share the land and the resources, and suggested that our children should live, work and maybe even one day make families together.

We see a little bit of this when we learn that we are still sharing land with Indigenous nations and we’re better off working together than anything else.

One word doesn’t do all of this, but it’s a start.

The difference, of course, is that millions of people aren’t watching Indigenous performers at the World Series.

They’re sure learning fantasies about Indians, though.

If one watched the World Series, or virtually any baseball game, in fact, one would think Indigenous peoples don’t exist beyond anything more than racist, stereotypical logos.

Yet, every stadium is on land historically and presently used and occupied by Indigenous peoples — whether acknowledged or not (and a couple of teams do).

This is slightly ironic, of course, for baseball is a game where the goal is to forcibly enter, colonize and — if fast and sneaky enough — fully inhabit the land of your enemy.

It’s like baseball is a repeat of my Grade 6 social studies textbook.

My point is that one word in a national anthem is small but apparently changes the world — that is, if you listen to some fans, commentators and social media “influencers.”

Frankly, I don’t feel like giving much airtime to the complaints about the tainting of the national anthem and how Saxe’s one-word change is “woke,” “self-indulgent,” and “activist.” So, if you want to see what I’m referring to, feel free to look up the numerous news stories describing how unimpressed some were.

I will say that anyone who makes the argument that artists have some kind of sacred duty to conform solely to some sort of patriotic conformity simply doesn’t understand art. Art is supposed to share ideas, encourage one to think and perhaps even act.

This is why asking an artist to perform is exciting but risky — and why viewers tune in. In his rendition of the anthem, Saxe was an artist doing what artists do. Pay the man.

The more significant question is: why are so many in the “true north, strong and free” so afraid of the idea that Canada is also Indigenous land?

For days my inbox has been full of angry emails over a column I wrote on Oct. 28 about the recent B.C. Supreme Court decision determining that a small neighbourhood in the city of Richmond was unjustly taken from the Cowichan people years ago and Canada now has a duty to negotiate with the First Nation for its current use.

After numerous explanations by Cowichan leaders and the B.C. Supreme Court decision itself that no one was kicking anyone out of their homes, a group led by the mayor of Richmond held a meeting with residents that resembled a scene in one of those old western movies where settlers circle the wagons while a group of wild savages attack.

The fact that the Cowichan are not coming to attack but (hopefully) find a way to work together doesn’t seem to matter — but the fantasy sure does.

One word last week as a baseball game gave all of us an opportunity to grow, change and develop.

And an opportunity to ignore facts, harm one another and repeat the mistake of stealing from one another instead of realizing we are standing on the same base.

» Niigaan Sinclair is Anishinaabe and is a columnist at the Winnipeg Free Press. This column was previously published in the Free Press.