Chanie Wenjack

This next segment touches on one of the most vital transformative legacies Gore Downey left behind.

Created through a joint commitment fund between the Downey and Wenjack families, Downey Wenjack Fund was built to foster cultural understanding and pave a path toward true reconciliation.

Inspired by the story of Channy Wenjack, a 12-year-old boy who tragically lost his life in 1966 after fleeing the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School, Downey Wenjack Fund works to build a better future through education, awareness, and action.

Through national initiatives like Legacy Schools, Legacy Spaces, and Secret Path Week, Downey Wenjack Fund empowers youth educators, businesses, and communities to connect, learn, and take meaningful steps forward.

By bringing Downey Wenjack to GEDFest Buffalo this year, we are proud to continue that vital conversation, support Indigenous-led reconciliation, and make sure that Chani's story continues to inspire action.

In this special two-minute piece, here is a closer look at the heart and mission behind the Gore Downey and Chani Wenjack Fund.

Done, when you're done

I'll be on your shoulder And you'll feel it And

We brought, we just kept expanding and expanding.

And then when Gord discovered the Charlie Wenjack story through his brother Mike and another writer, and he really, that story was a metaphor for him.

He really took it to heart and he wanted to do something with it for years, but it didn't really manifest in there with anything until he got sort of just before he got sick.

And he wanted to finish that off after the 2016 tour.

The secret path and legacy.

Though his album and graphic novel, The Secret Path, telling the story of the 12-year-old Anishinaabe boy, Wenjack, who died trying to escape a residential school, Downey sought to force the country to acknowledge its past Reconciliations.

His advocacy lives on through the Gord Downie Cheney Wenjack Fund, which promotes education, supports the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliations, and funds grassroots reconciliations in communities across Canada.

The Assemblies of First Nations honoured Gord prior to his passing, and I just want you to hear the emotion in Gord's voice when he was honoured with the name Man Who Walks With Stars.

We have to deal with that legacy at the same time." But so they're all connected in many ways.

And so when Ch- uh, Chanie Wenjack, um, who is, you know, k- key to that story Gordon Downey wrote and, and discovered and rediscovered, he was a kid the same time I was a kid.

And I write about how, uh, being a kid and one day, you know, the flag goes up, and we're at Expo, and we're at the 100th anniversary of Canada, and we're singing Canada.

And everything is, turns into Technicolor.

And we were on parallel tracks in the same country.

And it's like, well, lots of kids didn't have what you had, Carol, when they were kids.

But Chanie Wenjack was a product of policy.

It was a policy to erase his identity.

Uh, it's in recognition of the National Day in Truth for Reconciliation.

The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund is proud to partner with, once again, radio stations in Canada for a day to listen.

The first day to listen took place on June 30th, 2021, following the announcement of, uh, 215 potential unmarked graves in the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

With more than 540 stations participating, spanning different markets, regions, and formats, a day to listen leveraged the power of radio to inspire people throughout Canada to move toward reconciliation in meaningful ways.

This year's theme is honoring truth with action.

This year will mark the 10th anniversary of Secret Path, uh, where we reflect on how Gord Downie honored Chanie Wenjack's story, his truth, and helped tru- turn it into meaningful action by creating opportunities for learning, dialogue, and change.

Through conversation with Indigenous leaders, Knowledge Keepers, educators, artists, and change-makers, tomorrow we'll explore how truth can inspire meaningful action in communities throughout Canada.

Honoring truth means listening to lived experiences of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples, acknowledging the lasting impacts of colonialism and the residential school system, and taking meanin-meaningful steps toward reconciliation.

After being moved by a late 1960s article from Maclean's magazine-

magazine-He began to honor the legacy of its subject matter, the young indigenous child named Chanie Wenjack.

Secret Path was released as part of a multimedia experience, including a book, animated video, and of course, the standout 10-track album.

To call this album chilling is an understatement.