‘Not the country we thought’
TRAGICALLY HIP’S GORD DOWNIE TAKES ON RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS TRAGEDY
Chanie Wenjack was 12 years old in 1966. An Ojibway boy, he was a student at Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ont. Lonely at the school, he ran away, and tried to walk the more than 600 kilometres home to his father. He died of exposure and hunger, his body found beside the railway tracks.
Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie announced Friday that he will release a new solo album and, in collaboration with acclaimed cartoonist and comics writer Jeff Lemire, an accompanying graphic novel and animated film inspired by Wenjack’s story. Secret Path — the album and book — will be released on Oct. 18 and the film will air on CBC on Oct. 23.
In a statement, Downie said he learned of Chanie’s story, who was misnamed Charlie by his teachers, from a 1967 Maclean’s magazine article.
“I never knew Chanie, but I will always love him,” Downie said. “Chanie haunts me. His story is Canada’s story. This is about Canada. We are not the country we thought we were.”
For more than 100 years, the federal government funded church-run schools across the country to eliminate parental involvement in the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual development of aboriginal children, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The last school closed in 1996.
More than 150,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were placed in these schools, often against their parents’ wishes, which led to an apology from then-prime minister Stephen Harper in 2008.
“All of those governments, and all of those churches, for all of those years, misused themselves,” Downie said. “They hurt many children. They broke up many families. They erased entire communities.”
The Secret Path announcement comes just weeks after millions tuned into the live broadcast of the Hip’s final show of their Man Machine Poem tour in Kingston, Ont., which many feared could be a final goodbye to Downie, who revealed in late May that he is terminally ill.
During that show, Downie called out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who attended the concert, to help fix problems in Northern Canada.
“It’s maybe worse than it’s ever been, so it’s not on the improve. ( But) we’re going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help,” Downie said from the stage.
Downie visited Chanie’s relatives while in Marten Falls.
“I think there was a lot of mixed emotions,” said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson, who travelled with other First Nations leaders to the Marten Falls First Nation in northern Ontario to commemorate the project with Downie.
“One particular person had a hard time because they were trying to not relive any pain they felt. So that was a little hard and challenging.”
She said she gave Downie an eagle’s feather and a beaded vest because she “really wanted to impress upon him that we appreciate him.” The musician also received a blanket, a medallion and moccasins and played drums with members of the local community, North Wilson said.
On Friday, she said, they travelled to Chanie’s gravesite, which was filmed for an upcoming documentary.
“The project is all very haunting and all very real,” North Wilson says.
“If there are some Canadians that are choosing not to understand what happened in residential schools, perhaps this will help them understand because it’s hard not to relate to it. A lot of kids were like Chanie and it’s important Canadians know that.”
Another First Nations leader on the trip also praised the singer for his project. “We are grateful for Gord’s efforts to shine much- needed light on this dark chapter of history and his humility, sincerity and artistry is matched only by his determination to tell the story of (Chanie) and all youth from the residential school era who never made it home,” said Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler in a statement.
Downie began Secret Path as 10 poems that were turned into the 10 songs for the album, which was recorded over two sessions near Kingston in late 2013.
Proceeds from the album and graphic novel will go to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba, which is dedicated to preserving the history of the residential school system.
CHANIE HAUNTS ME. HIS STORY IS CANADA’S STORY.