"No Dress Rehearsal, This is Our Life"

     Students in grade 7 last year in our school participated in the opportunity to explore the lyrics of The Tragically Hip, read the graphic novel and listened to the music associated with The Secret Path.  Our aim was to apply our knowledge of figurative language to the lyrics, but more important, develop an appreciation for the circumstances surrounding the treatment of indigenous people in Canada. For those unfamiliar with the Alberta curriculum,  Social Studies 7 encompasses the time period from pre-contact to post-Confederation (to almost World War I). We explore the legacies of colonialism and should develop an understanding of the impact of differing cultures coming into contact with one another. As part of our performance assessment, students were invited to create an artifact that expressed a symbolic element from the film/novel/lyrics that conveyed a message of reconciliation.
     The most compelling aspect of the project, other than the realization that Chanie Wenjack represents just one child of many, was that he was the same age as most of our grade 7 students. We researched the distance he traveled and reviewed maps to see how far away from home he actually was. As a parent of a twelve-year-old at the time, as well as a teacher of three classrooms full of seventh graders, it was heartbreaking to imagine any one of our students in Chanie's shoes. And really, I assume, that was one of the motivations behind The Secret Path in the first place.
    I admire Gord Downie for a number of reasons: his intellectualism, his songwriting, his environmental activism and his filmmaking. But beyond these skills and traits, it matters that he used his position on stage for more than just saying goodbye in his final concerts, but leveraged a platform to draw attention to an overwhelmingly complicated issue. In the wake of the concert, and graphic novel/film/album, and now following his passing, there has been a spotlight shone on the path of reconciliation. Moving forward, these calls to action cannot be ignored.
     It has been interesting to see the spread of resources to promote exploration and understanding of the intergenerational impact of colonialism, and specifically residential schooling, on indigenous people. TeachOntario is one example that inspired my creation of a Secret Path assignment, and there is now a movement to encourage educators to follow Gord Downie's example, appropriately known as Teach  Like Gord. In the aftermath of Gord's death and in particular with the broadcasting of Long Time Running, The Secret Path concert and The Strombo Shows 'The Hip at 30'  I am both heartened and motivated by these efforts and am excited to see how The Secret Path project will unfold with our cohort of grade nine students this year.