Black Canadas Claim the Nation amid Erasure of Africville in Boyd's Consecrated Ground.

This article analyzes George Boyd’s play *Consecrated Ground* as a performative exploration of Blackness at Africville, one of Canada’s earliest relatively autonomous Black communities, moving beyond dominant narratives focused solely on its destruction. The play foregrounds diverse intra-Black identities—referred to as "Black Canadas"—including Africadians, Caribbean immigrants, and African migrants, illustrating their distinct yet interconnected claims to belonging and nationhood through acts of relation rather than monolithic representation. By staging both visible and absented presences, Boyd challenges Canada’s tendency to erase or homogenize Black experiences, highlighting systemic anti-Black racism, socio-political marginalization, and the complexities of Black sociality across historical and contemporary contexts. The article situates *Consecrated Ground* within broader discourses on Black Canadian history, cultural production, and the politics of recognition, emphasizing the play’s role in reclaiming erased histories and fostering nuanced understandings of Black identity and belonging in Canada.