441-01733 (Culture and heritage)

Whereas:

• In 2018, the National Anthem was amended with gender-neutral language to ensure equity and inclusion;
• Canada's most notable symbols, the Canadian flag and the National Anthem, fail to represent Indigenous people;
• First contact between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people was amicable, and Indigenous people showed newcomers how to survive;
• Several Indigenous people fought with the British during the Seven Years' War and were closely associated with Great Britain before and after the American Revolution;
• It wasn't until the British betrayed them concerning land rights that the alliance soured;
• They were not the first or last to be misled, deceived, and coerced into signing fraudulent treaties;
• Treaties affirmed that Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations were built on peace, friendship, morality, and mutual respect for one another's sovereignty;
• The Doctrine of Discovery denied Indigenous people's sovereignty and granted Christians the power to impose their ideologies while exploiting and seizing Indigenous Peoples' lands;
• Colonizers called the territory Terra Nullius, or "nobody's land," to establish state control and declare it their home;
• Indigenous people agreed to share, not surrender, their land expecting settlers to share resources and only take what they need;
• Indigenous people's relationship to the land differs from those who claim it today;
• The nature of this tie is not one of "ownership but of stewardship";
• The land is a sacred gift from the Creator, which Indigenous people vowed to protect;
• Indigenous stories, identity, community, traditional knowledge, culture, spirituality, and law illustrate the relationship to the land;
• The land has provided sustenance and shelter to Indigenous people since time immemorial and is revered for its lifegiving quality that sustains plants, animals, and people;
• To ensure abundant resources, Indigenous people had a reciprocal relationship with the land characterized by responsibility, balance, and interconnection;
• Disconnection from the land, water, and sky, caused by displacement and banned ceremonies, harms Indigenous people spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally;
• Continued extraction and exploitation of land resources have led to today's climate crisis;
• The lack of resources creates conflict among people, disproportionately affecting the marginalized; and
• Indigenous people's relationship to the land is constitutionally recognized.

Accordingly, we, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to refute the Doctrine of Discovery and Terra Nullius by amending the National Anthem's lyrics from Our Home and Native Land to Our Home on Native Land. Canada would thereby honour its moral responsibility and fulfill part of its commitment to the 45th call to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, moving towards reparation by recognizing that Indigenous people occupied, cultivated, and thrived on these lands before Europeans arrived.