The legacy of one of Canadian’s most beloved musicians was carried on posthumously Friday with the help of a family favour.
The brothers of Gord Downie, Mike and Patrick, paid a visit to London-area schools to continue the late musician and activist’s push for reconciliation on Indigenous issues and past tragedies in Canada.
The Downies brought along with them the story of Chanie Wenjack – a 12-year-old Anishinaabe boy whose life to an end while he was fleeing a residential school in 1966.
Wenjack’s tragic tale would become the subject of Downie’s final living project, Secret Path. The project was made of an album, film and graphic novel that all told Wenjack’s story and has even used as teaching materials in schools across Canada.
Mike Downie told XFM News that his brother Gord did the “right thing at the right time” by shining a light on Wenjack’s story in a project released less than a year before Downie’s death in 2017.
“I’ll always be so proud of him for that,” said Downie.
“For Patrick and I, it’s [about] trying to keep Gord’s voice still ringing in our ears. The longer we can do that… the better chance we have of setting this country in a new direction.”
Krystal Myles is a Ryerson University student who is teaching in a placement at Antler River Elementary School in Chippeawas of the Thames First Nation – one of the three schools visited on Friday.
Speaking to the work of the late musician, Myles said Downie shined a much needed light on Indigenous issues.
“The fact that his brothers are continuing to support and bring the issues to light is just absolutely amazing,” said Myles.
“Hopefully, one day things will be as it should, but until then we still are battling through reconciliation and are continuing to do so.”
Things have wrapped up at Antler River Elementary School, but Gord Downie’s brothers, Patrick and Mike, have one last stop today at Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School in London #LdnOnt #ReconciliACTION pic.twitter.com/ksQ9a0Q1al
— Andrew Graham (@andrewjwgraham) February 8, 2019
The brothers also paid a visit to Central Public School in Woodstock and Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School in London. During the scholarly tour, Mike and Patrick Downie also brought attention to the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack fund – an Indigenous-led initiative that works to improve the lives of Indigenous people in Canada.
