Photo Credit: Moyia Misner-Pellow
On October 17, 2017, Canadian icon Gord Downie passed away. He fronted The Tragically Hip who were one of the most influential bands in the history of the Canadian music scene.
The impact of the band and Gord was felt on August 20, 2016 when close to 12 million Canadians (about one-third of the Canadian population) watched The Hips final concert, which took place in the band’s hometown of Kingston, Ontario.
During the farewell concert, Downie took the time to addressed the nation on a subject he was deeply passionate about, indigenous rights. He directed the following statement to Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who was in attendance: “Prime Minister Trudeau’s got me, his work with First Nations. He’s got everybody. He’s going to take us where we need to go. It’s going to take us 100 years to figure out what the hell went on up there, but it isn’t cool and everybody knows that. It’s really, really bad, but we’re going to figure it out, you’re going to figure it out.”
Even though Downie may have appeared to be offering admiration for the Prime Minister, he was also putting Trudeau on notice, reminding him that the eyes of the country were watching him.
Gord Downie’s commitment to the issues of Canadian indigenous people continued with the October 18, 2016 release of the concept album Secret Path. The album related the true life story of Chanie Wenjack, a young aboriginal boy who died on October 22, 1966 while escaping a residential school in Kenora, Ontario. The incident raised questions about the residential boarding schools that removed native children from their family so that they could be assimilated into mainstream Canadian culture.
Even though Downie knew his time left was reduced it was important to him to use his last days to shed a needed spotlight on past injustices.
Downie released his sixth and final solo album, Introduce Yerself, posthumously on October 27, 2017.
The album’s closing track, “The North” features the poignant line:
“My bottle world
I’d never seen wasn’t allowed to see
The life of the north
In a Canada we should’ve never called “Canada”
You showed me around a bit
Showed me a bit of the past and showed me future
Broken in two bits
You showed me a love with a higher cooler style
Or you showed me a problem
That is over one hundred years old
They’re parents without kids without parents without kids without parents without kids without parents without kids.”
Choosing to closed the album with a strong statement on indigenous rights served as fitting last words from the legendary Canadian singer and poet who will forever be remembered as a tireless advocate for Native rights.