LEAVING A LEGACY
Chanie Wenjack room opens at Cape Breton University
Chanie Wenjack legacy room unveiled Friday at Cape Breton University’s library.
A welcoming space. A contemplative space. A meeting space. A thinking space. A conversation space.
Those were some of the words used to describe the Chanie Wenjack legacy room unveiled Friday at Cape Breton University’s library. The legacy room is a result of the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund, which was created as an embodiment of the dedication shown by the late leader of The Tragically Hip to improving the lives of Canada’s First Peoples.
CBU’s is the 25th space to open across Canada in the project’s first year.
As he entered the newly opened space, Eskasoni elder Albert Marshall clasped the hands of Sarah Midanik, CEO of the Downie Wenjack Fund and, on behalf of the Mi’kmaq people, declared that she had been adopted by the people of Unama’ki.
“This place here to me is a testament to what happens when someone employs and engages words like compassion,” he said in an interview. “I guess I believe Mr. Downie was very instrumental in empowering people of applying compassion in our hearts, that we’re all here for one purpose and that purpose only is how can we live in peace and harmony and learn from each other.”
Midanik noted there is vast cultural richness among the more than 600 First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across Canada.
“It says a lot about physical space and I think it’s really important to acknowledge CBU and all the great work that’s being done here to really honour the history and legacy of residential schools and the hard part of that history in Canada, to earmark physical space to learn and grow and heal together,” Midanik said. “I think that it’s through taking these little steps forward and taking these positions of leadership that we’re really going to be able to build a better Canada together.”
She added she is looking forward to seeing how CBU’s legacy space comes to be used by the university and stressed the importance of having hope.
“Having these hard conversations and leading into the discomfort of acknowledging hard and shameful parts of our history and the legacy and residual trauma and the impact that residential schools had on Indigenous peoples and our country is really something that we need to be able to acknowledge to move forward,” Midanik said.
Downie died from terminal brain cancer last year at age 53. In his final days, he directed the platform that he had from being an iconic figure in the Canadian music industry toward
the need to move forward on Indigenous reconciliation.
Downie was greatly affected
by the story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old boy who died of starvation and exposure in 1963, after running away from a residential school in Kenora, ON.
At the time of his death, Wenjack was attempting to reunite with his family, which was 600 kilometres away.
In collaboration with the Wenjack family, the legacy fund is meant to continue the conversation that began with Wenjack’s story and to aid in collective reconciliation efforts.
Mi’kmaq artist and author Alan Syliboy of Millbrook was commissioned to create a painting, which was unveiled at the opening. It is an image of Wenjack with stars covering his clothing.
“It is about going over to the other side now, that’s where he is and that’s where his suffering and all the trials in his life are over and he’s back with his mother and his people,” Syliboy said.
He added Wenjack’s memory lives on through the legacy rooms.
“The legacy room is more or less to bring hope and peace to the survivors of residential schools and their children and their families,” said Stephen Augustine, CBU’s associate vice-president of Indigenous affairs and Unama’ki College. “It’s very emotional for me right now.”
Augustine also performed a smudging ceremony, offering prayers to the seven sacred directions in the Mi’kmaq language.
Catherine Arseneau, director of cultural resources with the Beaton Institute and CBU art gallery, said by taking the step of opening the room, CBU was committing itself to reconciliation and following that commitment up with action.
“The legacy room is a space for education, contemplation, a reminder of Canada’s history and a visible commitment to CBU’s ongoing work towards reconciliation,” said CBU president David Dingwall.
He noted that CBU has been committed to Indigenous post-secondary education and it will continue to be shaped by the university’s response to the calls to action stemming from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
CBU’s renovations will include the addition of leather chairs forming an Indigenous talking circle. There are also bookshelves and display cases showcasing items donated by local residential school survivors.