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Teen Sings 'Blackbird' in Mi’kmaq
December 16, 2022
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Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly All your life You were only waiting for this moment to arise
-Paul McCartney, The Beatles
Listen to 16-year-old Emma Stevens sing The Beatles’ “Blackbird” in her native language Mi’kmaq. From Nova Scotia, Canada, Stevens worked with language revitalization specialist Katani Julian on the translation.
“My language is very different from other ones,” said Stevens. “There's a lot of syllables in ours. And there’s a lot of long words that translate into something really easy in English.”

Julian added, “Even though The Beatles’ songs sound, you know, simple, there's always a hidden meaning in there. And that's what I really loved about it,” Julian says. “I had to really do it very carefully so that I got the message, the original message across in the Mi’kmaq.”

Stevens and Julian are both members of the Eskasoni First Nation. The community has developed a school and music program which didn't exist when Julian was Stevens’ age.

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Comments (2)

Displaying All 2 Comments
Kirsten Haugen · December 19, 2022
Eugene, OR, United States


Wow, Hope, I didn't realize Paul McCartney had responded in that way. Music is such a powerful connector and translator of who and what we are. Pieces that bridge our differences and highlight them as complementary strengths really touch me. Thanks for sharing!

Hope Moffatt · December 16, 2022
Northern Hope Consulting
 Fort McMurray, AB, Canada


So proud of this young woman and the efforts of our First Nations to survive and thrive, despite colonization, genocide, residential schools all trying to strip them of their culture and their humanity. I recall that Paul McCartney learned of this video and got in touch with her, touched at the translation into Mi'kmaq. He wrote it when the Beatles first came to the US and were shocked at the segregation and treatment of African Americans. They same could be said for Canada'a treatment of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people.



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