Gord Downie’s Secret Path giving hope to Inuit trauma survivors

Tragically Hip frontman and songwriter Gord Downie announced Sept. 9 that he will be releasing a solo project, with accompanying film and graphic novel, about an Ojibwe boy who died trying to escape a residential school in Ontario. The project is called Secret Path.

Gordy Kidlapik doesn’t remember all the details of what happened to him at the Akaitcho Hall residence where he stayed when he went to residential school in Yellowknife in the 1970s.

He remembers being told to go to his supervisor’s room after supper one night when he was around 12. But after that, his memory is blank. And that wasn’t the only incident.

For years, Kidlapik, a retired Nunavut civil servant from Arviat, had nightmares about that residence which housed many Aboriginal students attending Sir John Franklin school. But he never talked about any of it.

So on Sept. 9, when he read that Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie had released a multi-media project commemorating the brief life, and tragic death, of a residential school student, its title—Secret Path—touched him deeply.

Because it feels like Kidlapik has been on a secret path most of his life.

“I was so happy to see the news this morning. Something like this, from a person like Gord Downie, it’s big,” says Kidlapik, 58. “I see this as something that can really open doors for people.”

Secret Path is a solo album, graphic novel and film about Chanie Wenjack, an Ojibwe boy who ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ont., to walk home, 400 miles away.

He was found dead, by the railroad tracks, in October 1966. He was 12, the same age as Kidlapik was in Yellowknife.

Downie, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in December, toured the country with the Tragically Hip this past summer as a farewell gift to fans.

But he started the Secret Path as a series of poems long before he got sick. He recorded the songs in 2013 and then partnered with artist Jeff Lemire to produce a graphic novel of Wenjack’s story, according to the Secret Path website.

The novel then inspired a film, based on Lemire’s illustrations, which will air on CBC Television Oct. 23 at 9 p.m.

“Chanie haunts me. His story is Canada’s story. This is about Canada,” Downie said in a statement released Sept. 9.

“We are not the country we thought we were. History will be re-written. We are all accountable.

“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.’”

That Downie would spend what little time he has left describing and publicizing the history of residential schools in Canada, and the torment they caused for Aboriginal peoples, gives hope to Robbie Watt, co-director of the Inuit sub-commission of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“For me, as an Inuk man, to have an artist go this far, it gives me hope. It gives me a sense that all the work the TRC did is not just going to go away,” Watt said from Kuujjuaq, where he now runs a bakery.

Watt said Inuit and First Nations had their own unique experiences at residential schools. Inuit, for example, could rarely “run away home” since their homes were so far away.

But many thought about running, Watt said, and they will relate to the story of Wenjack who would rather risk his life in the wilderness than spend another day at a far-off school where some students suffered grievous physical, mental and sexual abuse.

“This is going to be a masterpiece. We can only thank him at this point. I’m a very proud Canadian. I stand by Gord. I applaud the work he’s done, showcasing an issue that has impacted all Aboriginal groups,” Watt said.

When the TRC released its final report in June 2015, it was an opportunity for Inuit, First Nations and Metis people to feel validated and for majority Canadians, and the federal government, to accept responsibility for what happened.

But a report can only do so much, Watt said. Downie, a revered Canadian musical icon, will transmit that message into popular culture, through music and art, and that has the potential to reach a much wider audience and have a more lasting impact.

“People listen to music. Music is medicine for many of us. To have a well known artist come out with a song, we all want to hear it. So that in itself was a brilliant move on his part,” Watt said.

“That’s a man who knows exactly where he’s heading. He knows he doesn’t have much time left. He knows he has an audience and all the resources and this is what he’s prioritizing… He wants to be a proud Canadian before he leaves this earth.”

Kidlapik said he has been inspired by the dedication of high-profile people such as former NHL-er Theo Fleury, who has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about sexual abuse in sport, and now Downie.

When you live in a small, isolated place, and you feel alone in your pain, that kind of inspiration from public figures means a lot, Kidlapik said.

“It was huge,” Kidlapik said, describing how he felt when he read about the Secret Path project. “It was an eye opener. I know there’s a lot of people who are in the same situation, in a remote place, and have no one to talk to.”

Many of his siblings and friends went to school in Yellowknife as well and some of them are starting to open up about their experiences. Kidlapik said he’ll help them as best he can.

“I don’t know how I can do that. Maybe they’ll share what they went through. If I can just be an ear—I won’t have all the answers but I can be an ear.”

All proceeds from the Secret Path will go to the Gord Downie Secret Path Fund for Truth and Reconciliation via The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation housed at the University of Manitoba.