'He came down and the community lit up': Remembering Gord Downie's visit to remote Indigenous community
Gord Downie spent much of his final days raising awareness about the plight of Indigenous peoples in Canada, advocating for reconciliation. This Sunday, as we remembered Downie's contributions to this country, Rex Kanatasweet from Fort Albany First Nation called to share his memory of Downie's visit to his remote Indigenous community.
"It felt like he cared, he truly cared. He made time to come to our community. Gord has always been advocate for Indigenous rights and just by showing up, shows a lot of character and the kind of person he is," Kanatasweet said.
Listen to his conversation with host Duncan McCue:
Read a shortened transcript:
Duncan McCue: What are your thoughts on Gord Downie?
Rex Kanatasweet: I can't help but think about the time he came to my community of about 700 people on the western side of James Bay. He came down and the community lit up. It was a really proud moment for our community, Fort Albany First Nation, which is predominantly made up of Cree people. I remember I was getting ready to go the show with my wife and I just thought to myself: 'What's going on right now?' The moment was so surreal, I couldn't get over it.
Fort Albany gets pretty cold, to about minus 40 degrees, and I remember lining up in my little community and we had people from all over Ontario come down to listen to The Hip. That just speaks volume about the kind of impact Gord had on Canadians all over.
DM: You called it surreal to have him in your First Nation community, why?
RK: Just because it felt like he cared, he truly cared. He made time to come to our community. Gord has always been advocate for Indigenous rights and just by showing up, shows a lot of character and the kind of person he is. For him to do that, I know it means a lot to the community of Fort Albany.
DM: What did you think about him singing about residential schools?
RK: Gord's got a big platform to share the message. My mom, my dad are survivors of residential schools. For him to put that message out there meant a lot to me. I think a lot of Canadians think that it happened a long time ago. No, we're talking about my mom, we're talking about my dad - it didn't happen too long ago. I just want to say miigwech, which means thank you in Cree, to Gord Downie for using his platform to share that message. It's very powerful and for somebody to acknowledge that, it's going to make Canada a better country.
All comments have been edited and condensed. You can listen to the full interview using the audio link above. This online segment was prepared by Ilina Ghosh on Oct. 23, 2017.