7/5/2023 0 Comments Gord downie family lifeGord Downie began Secret Path as ten poems incited by the story of Chanie Wenjack, a twelve year-old boy who died fifty years ago on October 22, 1966, in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ontario, walking home to the family he was taken from over 400 miles away. 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. "Do we want to live in a haunted house the rest of our lives?” - Joseph Boyden The next hundred years are going to be painful as we come to know Chanie Wenjack and thousands like him – as we find out about ourselves, about all of us – but only when we do can we truly call ourselves, "Canada." I have always wondered why, even as a kid, I never thought of Canada as a country – It’s not a popular thought you keep it to yourself – I never wrote of it as so. Because at the same time that aboriginal people were being demeaned in the schools and their culture and language were being taken away from them and they were being told that they were inferior, they were pagans, that they were heathens and savages and that they were unworthy of being respected - that very same message was being given to the non-aboriginal children in the public schools as well…They need to know that history includes them.” (Murray Sinclair, Ottawa Citizen, May 24, 2015) I am trying in this small way to help spread what Murray Sinclair said, “This is not an aboriginal problem. This is a Canadian problem. It will take seven generations to fix this. We weren’t taught it it was hardly ever mentioned.Īll of those Governments, and all of those Churches, for all of those years, misused themselves. “White” Canada knew – on somebody’s purpose – nothing about this. We are all accountable, but this begins in the late 1800s and goes to 1996. We are not the country we thought we were. I never knew Chanie, the child his teachers misnamed Charlie, but I will always love him.Ĭhanie haunts me. 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. This exhibition is generously sponsored by The Ontario Brain Institute.Mike Downie introduced me to Chanie Wenjack he gave me the story from Ian Adam’s Maclean’s magazine story dating back to February 6, 1967, “The Lonely Death of Charlie Wenjack.”Ĭhanie 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. BRAIN: The World Inside Your Head shows how the brain functions – and sometimes – malfunctions, through special effects, video games and optical illusions. This event also coincides and connects with THEMUSEUM’s newest exhibition, opening Saturday, September 29, 2018. Fittingly, Canada will become the second country in the world to legalize the drug on October 17, 2018. The 53-year old, who died from terminal brain cancer, was also an outspoken advocate on the benefits of medical marijuana. It is truly an honour to commemorate his extraordinary life with a unique musical experience.” He was a staunch defender of the environment and Indigenous affairs,” said THEMUSEUM CEO, David Marskell. “Gord touched so many lives – through his lyrics and his-lead-by-example gestures. Tickets will be $30.00 +HST with a portion of sales donated to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research in support of Sunnybrook Foundation. The Almost Hip Tribute Band, which played its first official gig in Kitchener in 1990, will remember Gord in the best possible way: through soulful alternative rock and roll that inspired a generation. In honour of the legacy left behind by the singer, songwriter and activist, THEMUSEUM is hosting a celebratory concert, Remembering Gord Downie. Octowill mark the one year anniversary of Gord Downie’s untimely passing. ‘Almost Hip’ to Celebrate the Life of Legendary Canadian Gord Downie
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |