DWF Blog

This month, we have lots of events to help you continue on your learning journey and move reconciliation forward in your communities. Read on to learn more about our upcoming events, the next grant application deadline for The Blanket Fund, new toolkits for educators and youth group leaders, and more. September is an important month for reconciliation in Canada, but it doesn’t stop there. Stay tuned for more ways to take #ReconciliACTION this Secret Path Week (October 17-22) and beyond.

From celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day and Indigenous History Month to unveiling new Legacy Spaces and hosting exhibits at Union Station, June was an incredible, jam-packed month! Check out everything we got up to below.

Content warning: This newsletter contains information about residential schools. Mental health support is available. Today, May 28, marks two years since the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced that preliminary findings indicated the remains of 215+ children were buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

National MMIWG2S+ Awareness Day is May 5, and we have compiled the resources you need to teach your students what this important day means and how they can Do Something. Continue learning by participating in our DWF live sessions, entering our virtual Artist Ambassador visit contest, and attending a reconciliation workshop hosted by DWF staff and Tom Wilson. Check out all of this and more below!

Spring is just around the corner, and that means big things are underway at DWF! Applications for Oshki Wupoowane | The Blanket Fund are now open and from now until the end of the month you can join our Legacy Schools program and enter for a chance to win amazing prizes from Indigenous owned businesses. We are also excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for the Youth Ambassador program for 2023. As well, in celebration of Women’s History Month, we are thrilled to host a DWF LIVE with Artist Ambassador, Candace Linklater. Plus, if you’re in Toronto at the end of the month, join us for Ziigwan, an Indigenous music and arts festival happening at Yonge-Dundas Square! Check out all the details on this and more below!

Happy Black History Month! Join us as we highlight and celebrate Afro-Indigenous people, culture, and achievements. Know an Afro-Indigenous changemaker? Let us know at communications@downiewenjack.ca!

Winter Break is nearly here! We wish you all a relaxing break and hope you all take time to reflect, relax, and regroup. It’s been a busy few months and we appreciate all you’ve done to make your learning environments more inclusive.

After another successful Secret Path Week, we would like to thank all of those who joined us in honouring Chanie and Gord’s legacy by participating in a Walk for Wenjack, joining us for DWF LIVE, and taking reconciliACTION by learning about the history and ongoing impact of residential schools. After such a busy week, there is plenty to reflect on. Check out our recap of Secret Path Week 2022 as well as an update from our Legacy Spaces program below!

In August of 2016, Gord Downie asked all people in Canada to look at the state of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations in this country and to “Do Something” to change them for the better. In December of 2016, he was given the Lakota Spirit Name, Wicapi Omani, which can be translated as “Man who walks among the stars” for his reconciliACTIONs. Gord passed on October 17, 2017, and now every year, we honour Gord’s legacy by marking this as the first day of Secret Path Week.

Fall is just around the corner, which means DWF will be bringing you tons of events and new programming! On September 30th, we’re hosting a panel discussion for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and airing new interviews for A DAY TO LISTEN 2022, which will take over radio stations throughout Canada. We also have lots of great programming for Legacy Schools. Legacy Schools can expect to receive their toolkits and booster kits soon – they’re being shipped this week! We are excited to bring you all of this and more. Check out the details below! 

From celebrating National Indigenous Peoples Day and Indigenous History Month, to unveiling new Legacy Spaces and hosting Legacy School visits with the Wenjacks — June was an incredible, jam-packed month! Check out everything we got up to below!

This week marks one year since people throughout Canada and the world learned of the recovery of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. The past year has been a significant one for many reasons. During this time, we experienced profound grief as communities began the process of investigating the grounds of former residential schools. These processes have led to the identification of thousands of confirmed or suspected unmarked graves. Through this grief, however, we have also seen action from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working to appropriately address the legacy of harm. Canada has changed—it can never be the same.

Thank you to those who applied to the Youth Ambassador program and for a free virtual art workshop – we had over 150 applicants for 20 spots! We will be in touch with selected applicants soon. As well, our Spring Poster Challenge is still open, we can’t wait to see what reconciliACTION means to youth, their family, and community! For details on this and more, check out all the exciting things we are getting up to below.

New Artist Ambassadors, Upcoming Events, and More! With talented new Artist Ambassadors, exciting performances, and stories of incredible reconciliACTIONS, March is shaping up to be an exciting month! Take a look at just a few of the things we are looking forward to and don’t forget to check out our careers page for some exciting new opportunities with the expanding DWF team.

From applications opening up to the 2022 Youth Ambassador Program to exciting employment opportunities, here are just a few of the things we are working on at DWF!

Reconciliation is a collective journey with no clear endpoint and this year has further demonstrated how important that journey continues to be. We would like to thank everyone who took reconciliACTION in 2021 and joined us on this journey to foster meaningful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Here is a snapshot of how we built awareness, education, and made connections to move reconciliation forward this year.

On May 28, we learned about the heartbreaking discovery of 215 children buried at a former residential school on Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc territory in Kamloops, BC. We stand with the Secwépemc community, all the families and communities of these young children, and all those impacted by residential schools in their grief. “It’s really hard when we know what they are going through. We always knew findings would come out one day.” said Daisy Munroe, Chanie Wenjack’s eldest sister.

Following a successful meeting on Dec. 5, 2020, the Educator Advisory Committee will meet again in March. Despite the difficult and unusual school year, our Legacy Schools have done great work in their efforts towards reconciliation. Their hard work and dedication has inspired our committee to continue to work as hard as possible - despite the circumstances - to improve and add to our Legacy Schools Program. We're extremely proud to introduce two new members to our committee.

Show us what you can do Legacy School students - even from home! We are calling on all Legacy School students to create a poster that answers the question "What does it mean to be an Indigenous Ally?" Winning selections will appear on our social media channels and in our Legacy School calendar for 2020-2021 - a great addition to any student portfolio!

Late January, Mike Downie joined DWF staff in visiting several Legacy Schools; Linwood Public School, Kitchener-Waterloo Vocational & Collegiate Institute (KCI), Waterloo Collegiate Institute (WCI) and Ryerson Public School in Cambridge. Every Legacy School begins the journey to understanding our shared Canadian history from a different place - be it location, age, knowledge - and it was a truly beautiful experience to have the opportunity to visit elementary, middle, and high school students to learn where they are in their journeys.  Conversations were had about the great initiatives students and teachers have been doing, and Mike shared stories about how the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund came to be, the development of Secret Path, and what it means to see the important work being done by students. As Mike stated, "Gord knew we needed to get into schools."

Secret Path Live was an incredibly moving and impactful night for so many people, made even more special thanks to the generous support of the Buy One, Give One (BOGO) ticket purchasers. The BOGO ticket included one complimentary ticket for a Legacy School student or Indigenous youth who could not otherwise afford to attend the show. Through their generous support over 100 students and educators were able to attend, with five groups travelling over 1000km to attend.

Our friends at Learning Bird have created a series of free resources based on Secret Path, which tells the story of Chanie Wenjack’s flight from residential school. In honour of the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages 2019, the resources that they have created position Chanie Wenjack’s story as an opportunity to explore the topic of Indigenous languages and how they relate to Indigenous rights on a local, regional, national, and global scale.