ONFR+ : This is Indian Land
Vers une décolonisation de l’hymne nationale du Canada. In English. Et en français. | Towards a decolonization of Canada's national anthem. In English. Et en français.
C’est l’époque de vérité – et de réconciliation. Du remix. Des mots justes. De la réinvention de l’hymne nationale en Canadian English, écrite en 1908. Réécrite en 1968. En 1980. Et en 2018. Il y avait, semble-t-il, du pain sur la planche. Mais qu’en est-il de la version franco? Avons-nous, comme communauté linguistique, fait le dur et délicat travail de réflexion sur les paroles d’une hymne jusqu’alors immuable?
«THIS IS INDIAN LAND». Ceci est une terre autochtone.
Ce magnifique graffiti peint au clair de lune sur le pont ferroviaire de la Première nation à Garden River dans le nord de l’Ontario en 1973 est un cris de cœur anishinaabe, «un acte de revendication et de fierté», un rappel que nous habitons des terres autochtones.
Des terres sacrées. Pillées. Revendiquées. Ravagées. Protégées. Et cinquante ans plus tard, en cette époque de vérité et de réconciliation, la missive peinte sur le pont de Garden River est toujours incontournable.
Il nous faut des mots justes. Des mots, des actions qui peuvent panser des blessures historiques. Symboliques.
Car le Canada est «notre maison en terre autochtone».
This is Indian Land.
Lire la suite en français dans ONFR+
This is Indian Land
Towards a decolonization of Canada's national anthem. In English. Et en français.
This is an era of truth – and reconciliation. Of remixes. Of les mots justes – just words. A moment in history when English Canada’s national anthem is being reimagined. A hymn written in English in 1908. Rewritten in 1968. In 1980. And in 2018. There was, it seems, beaucoup de pain sur la planche – a lot of work to be done. But what about Ô Canada, the Franco version? Have we, as a linguistic community, done the hard and delicate work of reflecting on the lyrics of a previously unchanging anthem?
"THIS IS INDIAN LAND."
The magnificent moonlit graffiti painted on the railway bridge in Garden River First Nation in northern Ontario in 1973 is an Anishinaabe cri de coeur, "an act of protest and pride," a reminder that we live on Indigenous lands.
Sacred lands. Plundered. Reclaimed. Ravaged. Protected. And fifty years later, in this age of truth and reconciliation, the missive painted on the Garden River Bridge resonates more than ever.
We need les mots justes – words of justice. Words and actions that can heal historic wounds. Even if in a symbolic manner.
For Canada is “notre maison en terre autochtone.” Our home on Native land.
This is Indian Land.
The Remix
Jully Black lent us her voice, even if "she had no words".
For some years now, this great artist – the daughter of an immigrant from Jamaica, a woman who “chose Canada” – the queen of Canadian R&B and a Black thought leader – had stopped singing the national anthem, distressed by the graves of Indigenous children found on the grounds of former residential schools.
In February 2023, Jully Black took up the anthem at an NBA All-Star Game, singing "O Canada, our home on Native land." A single word, changed, heavy with symbolism.
"I didn't want to disrespect the songwriter," she explained. "I also realize that we are on the land, we don't own it, it's not ours," she said. "I wish I could kind of sit with the songwriter and say, 'Hey, you might have got the facts wrong.”
"And," she adds, "could we do a bit of a remix?"
Like Jully Black, French-Canadian artist Mehdi Cayenne, born in Algeria in northern Africa and raised in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario, would also lend us his voice.
A critique, gloriously "unpatriotic”, a "polemic," his Ô Canada (2010) examines the flipside of Canadian nationalism, opening with the words: "Ô Canada, our home on Native land".
"As an immigrant, you don't get the whole story," Mehdi Cayenne emphasized in 2019. "Ultimately, it's not the Canadian government that welcomes you, it's the sovereign nations of the Indigenous peoples who welcome you."
Just like those of us who were born in this land of French ancestors don’t get the whole story. That it was Indigenous sovereign nations who welcomed us.
This is Indian land.
The OGs of the national anthem
"You almost want to smile at a conservative columnist in Toronto who thinks you can't touch the lyrics of O Canada," writes Emilie Nicolas about the controversy sparked by Jully Black's gesture of solidarity for Le Devoir.
"A reminder that the original music is by Calixa Lavallée," she continues. "And that the poem is by Adolphe-Basile Routhier. That the hymn was first sung on June 24, 1880, for the Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebrations. At the time, the word "Canada" was still largely synonymous with French Canada. And that the English translations (yes, plural - there have been several) already constitute a form of political recuperation of a song that was conceived to speak of something quite different from what it represents today".
O Canada, the anglo version, is based on lyrics written by Robert Stanley Weir in 1908. Rewritten in 1968. In 1980 (the year it became the national anthem). And in 2018 ("thy sons" becomes "us"). Clearly, there was work to be done and lyrics in need of edits.
But have we, Francos, done the same work to understand our national anthem, whose lyrics are unchanged since it was written 143 years ago? Can we draw inspiration from the other two verses, which certainly reflect a colonial Catholicism, but which also exhort us to "on our soil establish the truth" and to "be a people of brothers"?
Don't we need a Franco-national reflection that shows our affection and respect for this "terre de nos aïeux,” “the land of our ancestors”?
This, after all, is Indian land.
Les mots justes
"O Canada... you'll be what your child makes of itself", sings Mehdi Cayenne.
Oui. So let's make it right.
Canada is going through a "period of introspection" about its history, points out intellectual Jack Jedwab, president of the Canadian Studies Association, and, he continues, "there's some value in trying to recognize who we are, properly."
Who we are. Properly.
On Canada Day this year, it was revealed that one in three Canadians would like to see an amendment to the national anthem. Earlier this month, a second poll reiterated that 41% of Anglo-Canadians are in favour of amending the lyrics of the national anthem.
If I were Anglo-Canadian, I'd be one of them. And if I'm proud, fierce and Franco, I'm also one of those who want this remix. But we need more than "home on Native land," more than "terre de nos aïeux." In English. In French. In official bilingue. In the languages of this vast country's constellation of peoples.
For this is our home on Native land.
This is Indian Land.