Gord Downie’s legacy inspires action on reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Learn how you can answer Gord’s call and take reconciliACTION.
In 2016, on his final cross-country tour while battling terminal brain cancer, Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip played to a live and TV audience of an estimated 11.7 million viewers in Canada. Downie took this opportunity to ask us all to look at the state of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations in this country and to “Do Something” to change it for the better.
That same year, Downie released his solo project, Secret Path, which includes an album, graphic novel, and animated film telling the story of Chanie Wenjack. Chanie Wenjack was a 12-year-old Anishinaabe boy who died trying to escape Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School and reach his family 600 kilometres away in Ogoki Post.
Today, Wenjack and Downie’s legacies live on through the work of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF), an Indigenous-led organization that aims to build cultural understanding and create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
Reconciliation isn’t an Indigenous issue — it’s a Canadian issue
On September 30, the fourth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, DWF invites you to honour the legacies of both Wenjack and Downie as we reflect on the lasting impacts of residential schools and other colonial policies, whose harms continue to affect the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples across the country. The relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples is foundational to Canada and critical to our collective future.
Walking the path toward reconciliation with the DWF
DWF provides opportunities to learn, reflect, and take meaningful action through its various programs.
The Legacy Schools program provides over 8,362 educators all over Canada with free tools and resources to help them teach not only Canada’s true history but also the richness, strength, and diversity of Indigenous cultures.
The Legacy Spaces program enables workplaces throughout Canada to create safe, welcoming spaces dedicated to learning about the true history of Canada and how we can all do something to move reconciliation forward. Today, there are 74 Legacy Spaces partners across 40 cities in Canada.
The Youth Ambassador program develops the next generation of leaders, offering four weeks of leadership training that has now supported 239 Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in becoming champions of reconciliation in their communities.
Join us on the path toward reconciliation
Your support is essential in continuing this work. Every donation and partnership helps DWF to provide resources to educators, empower youth, uplift Indigenous artists and voices, and create opportunities for all to engage in reconciliation.
Today, we invite you to answer Downie’s call to #DoSomething to move reconciliation forward.
