Tragically Hip frontman focuses efforts on indigenous struggles
On Sept. 9, 2016, Gordon Downie, frontman of the Tragically Hip, announced a collaborative project with Canadian comic book artist Jeff Lemire.
The project—called Secret Path—is a multi-media exhibit featuring a ten-song album written by Downie, a graphic novel drawn by Lemire, and an hour-long television special combining both music and animation.
Secret Path tells the story of a young Anishinabe boy named Chanie Wenjack who passed away in 1966 as he tried to get back to his family following his escape from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ont.
“…a multi-media exhibit featuring a ten-song album written by Downie, a graphic novel drawn by Lemire, and an hour-long television special combining both music and animation.”
The collaborative project follows in the wake of a summer of “Hip fever.” Back in May, when Downie announced that he was suffering from glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, the country went into a craze of Tragically Hip music, nostalgia, and celebration.
During the final show of their farewell tour in Kingston, Ont.—a show that was broadcast to nearly 11 million people—Downie called out to Canadians to be more aware of “The people way up north.” The Prime Minister was put in the spotlight as Downie said of him, “You know, Prime Minister Trudeau’s got me. His work with First Nations. He’s got everybody. He’s going to take us where we need to go.”
At the end of the tour, many put the Tragically Hip and Downie out of mind as the band slowly stopped making headlines, however, the enigmatic frontman continues to shed light on Canadian history and internal problems that are too often ignored.
In a Sept. 9th press release, Downie said that a Maclean’s article from 1967 had inspired the project. Downie said, “This is about Canada. We are not the country we thought we were. History will be re-written. We are all accountable, but this begins in the late 1800s and goes to 1996. ‘White’ Canada knew—on somebody’s purpose—nothing about this. We weren’t taught it; it was hardly ever mentioned.”
“You know, Prime Minister Trudeau’s got me. His work with First Nations. He’s got everybody. He’s going to take us where we need to go.”
Chanie Wenjack was one of thousands of children who fell victim to the residential school system in Canada. He froze to death while walking an unknown distance to try and find his home. His family, 400 kilometres away in Ogoki Pos—part of the Marten Falls First Nation in Northern Ontario—had no idea Wenjack had died until nearly a week later.
The proceeds from the sales of Secret Path will go to The Gord Downie Secret Path Fund for Truth and Reconciliation via The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba.
[media-credit name=”Courtesy of Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire” align=”aligncenter” width=”1020″]
For many, this could be the first time hearing about Wenjack or the tragedies related to the residential school system.
Jeff Lemire’s statement about Secret Path articulates what many who live in Canada have experienced. “Growing up white in Southern Ontario, I never learned about Chanie Wenjack or about any of the tens of thousands of other indigenous children like him who were part of Canada’s residential school system. This is such a massive part of our country’s history, yet our schools didn’t teach us about it. Why? Maybe because it’s easier to live with ourselves if we pretend stories like Chanie’s never happened. But they did happen, and still happen.”
“Chanie Wenjack was one of thousands of children who fell victim to the residential school system in Canada.”
In early September, Downie travelled to Ogoki Post to visit Wenjack’s remaining family and community with a small entourage of people including his brother Mike Downie, Ry Moran, director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler from the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.
Following the visit, Moran wrote in a special for the Globe and Mail on Sept. 13, 2016: “Sadly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission uncovered thousands more [deaths] and numerous calls to action of the TRC recommend ongoing work to identify and commemorate the children who never returned and the places they are buried. With Gord’s help, we can start to implement some of these calls to action through the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.”
Moran added, “We cannot continue to live in ignorance of the realities, both past and present, faced by indigenous people. We collectively need to face the past—to learn the stories of the children taken and of the parents left behind.”
The album and graphic novel are set to be released on Oct. 18, and the hour-long television special will be broadcast on Sun, Oct. 23—the 50th anniversary of the day they found Wenjack in the snow.
Photo courtesy of Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire.