A local man who was inspired by the front man of The Tragically Hip to organize a walk in support of the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund says Tuesday morning's report about the death of the singer came as a shock to him, even if it was expected.
Jason Lafave said he is a longtime fan of The Tragically Hip, who lost lead singer Tuesday after he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in May of 2016.
"Even though we knew it was coming, it was still a bitter pill to swallow knowing that someone who basically created the soundtrack to your life is no longer there,” said Lafave.
He said he was unaware of the story of Chanie Wenjack until it was brought to the forefront by Downie’s solo album The Secret Path, released in October of 2016.
The residential school system was a dark part of Canadian history that Lafave said was unknown by many.
“Downie wanted everybody to stand up and take notice. It was just such a shock to know this kind of thing was happening right up until 1996,” said Lafave.
Wenjack was 12 years old in 1966, when he attempted to run away from the Cecelia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ont., where he had been forced to live and go to school for three years.
The story of Wenjack’s death after trying unsuccessfully to walk to his home 600 kilometres away shook Lafave to the core after he saw Downie's live show in support of the album in Toronto.
“Even though Gord had just come out with this album — The Secret Path — I still feel like people still weren’t really familiar (with the residential school system). Even now, I talk to students and they are still unfamiliar with what went on,” said Lafave.
Already involved in the Courage for Gord Fan Fundraiser, Lafave reached out to Downie’s brother Mike the day after seeing the live show in support of The Secret Path in Toronto.
“I told (Mike) we have done a lot of fundraising for Courage for Gord over the summer and that we are looking to raise awareness for the Chanie Wenjack Fund,” said Lafave.
A small group of people — including Lafave, Rob Ferreira, Stacey Barker and Terri Manko — began to organize a walk from Kenora to a spot near Farlane, Ont., where Wenjack took his last breath near the railroad tracks he was following on a route that, unbeknownst to him, would not lead him home.
“It was a group of four of us that decided we were going to do this walk — whether anyone was listening or not. If we reached just one person, that's all we wanted," said Lafave.
Three weeks later, in November of 2016, Lafave and the others arrived in Kenora and were met by the family of Wenjack — who were among the people who walked that day.
Lafave remembers one of Wenjack’s sisters collapsing in tears on the train tracks near where the boy had died over 50 years ago.
"It was the most emotional experience I have ever had in my life," said Lafave.
He said Wenjack’s story is one that needed to be told and he was glad to have heard it through Downie’s music.
“For (Downie), who was on his deathbed, to decide these were going to be his last breaths to his fans — to try and get people to dig a little deeper. It was an important story to tell," said Lafave.
Shortly before the walk, Lafave reconnected with his mother after about 25 years estranged.
The walk took on additional meaning for Lafave after his mother revealed that her own mother was Indigenous and had been a victim of the residential school legacy.
“The walk meant a little more for me knowing my grandmother had been a student at one of these residential schools,” said Lafave.
Although he never had an opportunity to meet Gord Downie in person, he did meet his brothers Mike and Pat Downie during the walk.
“I know this has hit them hard and I feel for the Downie family and everyone in their extended family -- the Wenjacks especially. They have become quite close over the last year. Everyone will be hurting, but I feel like he's in a better place," said Lafave.
He added, “it's a sad day, but it's a day to play your Hip loud. Enjoy what he's done in his life. Don't mourn the loss, celebrate his life.”
Another connection shared with Downie occurred when Lafave was 26, when he had an abscess removed from his brain.
“I went through brain surgery and had it removed. That was definitely something I personally connected with — knowing (Downie) had gone through those kinds of traumas — his memory loss and other things that I experienced,” said Lafave.
"It's nothing as scary as what he went through, though” he noted.
Lafave has brought the experience of walking with the Wenjacks back to Guelph by speaking at local elementary schools about the experience in an effort to educate today’s young generation about Indigenous issues and the residential school system.
"It's a shame that nobody knew any of this and yet it was all going on. Even now, when it's in the mainstream news — especially with Gord Downie and everything that has happened with him — people are starting to recognize and become a little bit disgusted with the way Canada has treated the people that were here before us," said Lafave.
A film by photographer Joel Clement about the Novemeber 2016 walk titled The Weight of Your Heart will be shown this Sunday in Richmond Hill and introduced by Chanie’s sister Pearl Wenjack Achneepineskum.
On Nov. 20 — one year exactly since the walk in Kenora — Lafave will lead a walk involving local elementary school children in an effort to educate them about Wenjack’s death.
"The idea was to take the experience of this walk back to the schools,” said Lafave.
