‘Walks Among the Stars’
Indigenous leaders praise Gord Downie as a friend and ally on reconciliation
Indigenous leaders praised Gord Downie’s contribution to reconciliation as they mourned the musician’s death.
The Tragically Hip frontman died Tuesday after battling brain cancer. He was 53.
Downie’s most recent work on reconciliation is Secret Path, a multimedia solo project — film, songs and a book — honouring 12-yearold Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 after running away from a residential school in Ontario.
V will broadcast a concert version of Secret Path on Sunday that will also stream at cbc.ca/arts/secretpath, commemorating the 51st anniversary of Wenjack’s death. Filmed at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on Oct. 21, 2016 with more than 30 members of the Wenjack family in attendance, the one-hour special captures Downie’s Secret Path live performance.
Other musicians performing include Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin (Broken Social Scene), Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Josh Finlayson (Skydiggers) and Dave Hamelin (The Stills). It includes intimate backstage moments and footage from the Secret Path animated film that CBC premiered last October.
CBC has also launched a collection of short documentaries on its website which highlight Canadians who have undertaken their own acts of reconciliation.
And CTV says it will now present the acclaimed film about The Tragically Hip, Long Time Running, in a special television premiere event on Friday. The 95-minute film was previously scheduled to debut in November.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said Wednesday he knew Downie’s death was coming but he said it is still incredibly sad to know the musician is no longer alive.
In addition to his music, Downie will be remembered for his advocacy for Indigenous communities and notably Secret Path, Fiddler said. “Gord often said he was struck by that story and he couldn’t let go of it,” Fiddler said. “He wanted to make it his mission to share that story with the rest of the country.”
Downie’s death is an “incredible loss to Canada,” Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said as she thanked him for the role he played in reconciliation.
“He put it so rightly when he said we’ve got 150 years behind us to learn from and 150 years ahead of us and we better just get to work,” Bennett said on Parliament Hill. “I think Gord Downie will be with us as we do that work.”
It was important that someone of Downie’s stature set an example for all Canadians, she said. “It has really ... galvanized way more people to think that it is not somebody else’s problem,” she said.
“I think that we know that as he goes to the spirit world, he will still guide us on this project of reconciliation which isn’t just for Indigenous people, that non-Indigenous people have a tremendous role to play as we come out of this dark chapter of colonization and racism.”
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said Downie was “an ally and friend” and referred to him as the man who “Walks Among the Stars” — a name given to the singer in late 2016 at an emotional ceremony at a special chiefs assembly in Gatineau, Que.
A frail-looking Downie wept openly at the event, wiping tears from his eyes.
He was also given an eagle feather, swaddled in a star blanket by Bellegarde and his wife and showered in gifts.
“I honour the life and work of Gord Downie, a dedicated and accomplished artist who used his profile to advance reconciliation and build support for First Nations peoples,” Bellegarde said.