Tragically Hip Frontman Gord Downie Honored for Work with First Nations to Reconcile Legacy of Residential Schools

After wowing a nation by rocking across Canada in the face of terminal brain cancer, Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie has outdone himself with his work to shed light on the dark legacy of residential schools.

Downie was recently honored by the Assembly of First Nations for his "Secret Path" project.

The multimedia package, which includes an album, movie and graphic novel with illustrations by Jeff Lemire, tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old Anishinaabe boy who died 50 years ago escaping from a residential school.

"Chanie was a young boy who died on October 22, 1966, walking the railroad tracks, trying to escape from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School to walk home. Chanie's home was 400 miles away. He didn't know that. He didn't know where it was, nor know how to find it, but, like so many kids - more than anyone will be able to imagine - he tried. I never knew Chanie, the child his teachers misnamed Charlie, but I will always love him," Downie wrote in a Sept. 9 statement on the album's website.

The singer is not profiting from the project. Proceeds from the sale 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.

On Dec. 6, the Assembly of First Nations honored an emotional and tearful Downie for his efforts to start the healing process. Earlier in the year, the band announced their charismatic frontman had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of terminal brain cancer often considered uncurable. Yet, he went on with the cross-country Hip tour and subsequent Secret Path shows.

At the ceremony, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde and his wife, Valerie, wrapped Downie in a star blanket in the presence of Elders and Chiefs, Grand Chiefs, First Nations youth and others present at the AFN's Special Chiefs Assembly in Gatineau, Quebec. The star blanket is bestowed to demonstrate respect and admiration. The blanket is wrapped around the person to convey protection, warmth and to alleviate loneliness. The naming ceremony followed the bestowing of an eagle feather, another very high honour. Downie also received the name Wicapi Omani, which is Lakota for Walks with the Stars, according to a news release from AFN. Some media outlets reported the name roughly translates to "Man Who Walks Among the Stars."

"Gord Downie is shining a light on the inequality experienced by indigenous peoples. Today, we lift up and honour Gord Downie, whose words and music have introduced millions of Canadians to the story of Chanie Wenjack, a young boy who has come to represent the thousands of children subjected to the Residential Schools system, just one of the many who was taken from his family never to see them again," Bellegarde said in the news release. "Gord's devotion to sharing Chanie's story with Canadians will help to open eyes to a tragic history and light the way to a brighter and more just future for our peoples. First Nations are gathered here under the theme 'Advancing Reconciliation', and that's exactly what Gord is doing through his work."

The eagle feather is one of the highest honors bestowed to those who show great leadership, courage and commitment, the AFN statement said. AFN Regional Chief for Nova Scotia-Newfoundland Morley Googoo of the Waycobah First Nation presented a painting commissioned for Downie by Loretta Gould. She is a Mi'kmaq artist who in the work, titled "Share our Teachings," envisioned Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack meeting. Googoo recently launched the Legacy Room initiative to encourage companies to designate special rooms for discussion and advancement of Reconciliation with the newly created Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund.

"Chanie haunts me. His story is Canada's story. 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," Downie said in his Secret Path statement. "All of those governments, and all of those churches, for all of those years, misused themselves. They hurt many children. They broke up many families. They erased entire communities. It will take seven generations to fix this. Seven. Seven is not arbitrary. This is far from over. Things up north have never been harder. Canada is not Canada. We are not the country we think we are."

"Gord's main objective with the Secret Path project was to create a conversation about Reconciliation that would span generations," Googoo said in the release. "I am honoured today to present him with this beautiful depiction in recognition of his lasting contribution to Reconciliation on behalf of the AFN."

Downie used the final show of the Hip's summer tour as a platform to shine a light on First Nations issues. Millions of people watched the show from their homes and at public viewings televised on CBC from Kingston, Ontario.

From the stage, Downie took a minute to hail Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in attendance wearing a Hip shirt, and push him to make good on his government's promises to improve the quality of education for First Nations people and to do something to address the dark legacy of residential schools.

"We're in good hands, folks, real good hands ... he cares about the people way up north, that we were trained our entire lives to ignore, trained our entire lives to hear not a word of what's going on up there," Downie said at the Aug. 20 concert. "And what's going on up there ain't good. It's maybe worse than it's ever been ... but we're going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help.

"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 ... it's going to take us a hundred years to figure out what the hell went on up there, but it isn't cool and everybody knows that. It's really, really bad, but we're going to figure it out, you're going to figure it out."

There is a change.org petition circulating asking the Canadian government to give Downie the Order of Canada. That can be signed at http://bit.ly/1WQntTi.

The Tragically Hip were formed in Kingston in 1984. They have released 13 studio albums and toured around the world. On Nov. 3, 2007, they played at the All-In Lounge in Akwesasne. It was the only time they ever played in the community and was the only concert ever held at the venue. The band also includes guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay.

More information about Secret Path is at secretpath.ca.