Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
National

Gord Downie To Release Album And Graphic Novel Inspired By Residential Schools

The Canadian Press, 09 Sep, 2016 11:25 AM
    TORONTO — Just weeks after fans bid what they feared could be a final goodbye to beloved Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, the terminally ill singer has revealed he will release a new solo album with an accompanying graphic novel and animated film inspired by the tragedy of Canada's residential school system.
     
    "Secret Path" tells the story of a 12-year-old First Nations boy in Ontario named Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 after running away from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ont.
     
    The album and book will be released on Oct. 18 and the film will air on CBC on Oct. 23.
     
    "I never knew Chanie, but I will always love him," Downie said Friday in a statement. "Chanie haunts me. His story is Canada's story. This is about Canada. We are not the country we thought we were."
     
    In May, Downie made the shocking announcement that he has terminal brain cancer. Tickets for the band's "Man Machine Poem" summer tour, which many feared could be their last, sold out almost immediately, leading to CBC picking up a national broadcast of the final tour stop in Kingston last month. The concert quickly became a national event as millions tuned in across the country.
     
    During that final show, Downie called out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who attended the concert, to help fix problems in northern Canada in his last scheduled live performance with his band.
     
     
    "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 onstage.
     
    In Friday's statement, Downie said he learned the story of Chanie Wenjack, who was misnamed Charlie by his teachers, from a 1967 Maclean's magazine article.
     
    Downie recounted in Friday's release how the boy died beside railroad tracks after escaping the school and trying to walk to his home more than 600 kilometres away.
     
    "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."
     
    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, Metis, 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.
     
     
    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.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    'She's Our Child:' Family's Tearful Plea For Help To Find Missing Manitoba Woman

    'She's Our Child:' Family's Tearful Plea For Help To Find Missing Manitoba Woman
    Christine Wood, who is 21, was with her mother and father in Winnipeg on Aug. 19 to accompany a relative to a medical appointment.

    'She's Our Child:' Family's Tearful Plea For Help To Find Missing Manitoba Woman

    Montreal Taxi Drivers Planning To Sue City For The Right To Wear Black Jeans

    Montreal Taxi Drivers Planning To Sue City For The Right To Wear Black Jeans
    A group of Montreal taxi drivers is taking the city to court over the right to wear black jeans on the job.

    Montreal Taxi Drivers Planning To Sue City For The Right To Wear Black Jeans

    'Canadian Values' Exist, But Don't Screen Immigrants For Them: Maxime Bernier

    'Canadian Values' Exist, But Don't Screen Immigrants For Them: Maxime Bernier
    OTTAWA — Conservative leadership candidate Maxime Bernier says the best way to promote Canadian values is to provide new immigrants with economic opportunities to help them integrate into society.

    'Canadian Values' Exist, But Don't Screen Immigrants For Them: Maxime Bernier

    Convicted Rapist Larry Takahashi Has Not Been Seen In Vancouver, Say Police

    Convicted Rapist Larry Takahashi Has Not Been Seen In Vancouver, Say Police
    Vancouver police say convicted rapist Larry Takahashi has not been seen in an east Vancouver neighbourhood.

    Convicted Rapist Larry Takahashi Has Not Been Seen In Vancouver, Say Police

    1,000 Syrian Refugees Expected To Arrive In B.C. Before The New Year

    1,000 Syrian Refugees Expected To Arrive In B.C. Before The New Year
    Shirley Bonds ays about 1,000 refugees are slated to arrive between now and December.  

    1,000 Syrian Refugees Expected To Arrive In B.C. Before The New Year

    Woman Who Killed Stepdaughter Should Serve 18-20 Years Before Parole: Crown

    Woman Who Killed Stepdaughter Should Serve 18-20 Years Before Parole: Crown
    TORONTO — Prosecutors say a woman who killed her teenage stepdaughter more than two decades ago should spend 18 to 22 years in prison before having a chance at parole.

    Woman Who Killed Stepdaughter Should Serve 18-20 Years Before Parole: Crown