Secret Path


Secret Path is a Canadian multimedia art project including a music album and tour, a graphic novel, and a television film. The centrepiece is Secret Path, the fifth studio album by Gord Downie and the final album released during his lifetime. Released on October 18, 2016, the project is a concept album about Chanie Wenjack, a young Anishinaabe boy from the Marten Falls First Nation who died in 1966 while trying to return home after escaping from an Indian residential school. All proceeds from the album and book are being donated to the University of Manitoba's National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation project.
The album was accompanied by a graphic novel of the same name, written by Downie and illustrated by Jeff Lemire, as well as an animated television film aired on CBC Television on October 23, 2016. Downie performed the album in a concert at Roy Thomson Hall on October 21, 2016, which was his last-ever full concert performance in his lifetime and was attended by members of the Wenjack family. The concert was aired by CBC Television in October 2017 following Downie's death.

Impact

The project was widely adopted by many Canadian schools as a teaching tool in indigenous history lessons on the residential school system, and led to the creation of the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund to support efforts in indigenous reconciliation.
In October 2018 CBC Television aired Finding the Secret Path, a documentary about the making of the album which was directed by Downie's brother, Mike Downie.

Live performances

Downie performed the album in a concert at the Roy Thomson Hall on October 21, 2016, attended by members of the Wenjack family. The concert, Downie's last-ever live performance, was filmed for an hour-long special, Gord Downie's Secret Path in Concert, which also featured backstage footage and scenes from the animated film. The special aired on October 22, 2017 on CBC Television, following Downie's death earlier that week.

Awards

The album won two Juno Awards at the Juno Awards of 2017, for Adult Alternative Album of the Year and Recording Package of the Year, and Downie won Songwriter of the Year for the songs "The Stranger", "The Only Place to Be" and "Son". The album was also a shortlisted nominee for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize.
At the 6th Canadian Screen Awards, the television film received nominations for the Donald Brittain Award and Best Music in a Non-Fiction Program. It won the Best Music award at the non-fiction programming event on March 6, 2017, and the Donald Brittain Award at the broadcast gala on March 11.
At the 7th Canadian Screen Awards, the concert special won two awards, for best variety or entertainment special and best sound in a non-fiction program.
At the 8th Canadian Screen Awards, Finding the Secret Path won the awards for Biography or Arts Documentary Program or Series and Best Direction in a Documentary Program.

Track listing

All tracks written by Gord Downie unless otherwise noted.

Personnel