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The story of two young Anishnaabe (Algonquin) children who spent their youth in an Indian Residential School in Abitibi, Quebec, and who are now trying to make peace with their painful past.

Drama | 1 season

Pour Toi Flora (Dear Flora)

A musical tribute to musician, visual artist, human rights activist, Truth and Reconciliation educator, and Oscar-winning composer Buffy Sainte-Marie featuring performers inspired by her life’s work, including Crystal Shawanda, Leela Gilday, Logan Staats, Marie-Mai, Sarah Midanik, ShoShona Kish, Tom Jackson, William Prince, and Jeremy Dutcher.

Concerts and performances | 66 min

Buffy Sainte-Marie Starwalker

In 1967, Charlie Bittern was forced to run 80 km through a blizzard by a residential school principal. 55 years later, he’s embarking on the same journey — this time, surrounded by his family.

Documentary | 22 min

Bimibatoo-win: Where I Ran

Join us as we honour the resilience of residential school Survivors, and the journey of Truth and Reconciliation that lies ahead.

Documentary | 88 min

Every Child Matters: Reconciliation Through Education

Susan lives on a fine line between cultures and expressions. She is Kanien'kehá:ka (also known as Mohawk). She is an open lesbian. She is a United Church minister at the Grand River United Church. Despite balancing these diverse identities, Susan radiates peace and thoughtfulness. She is living out a new expression of faith in the somber face of the church’s abusive history toward Indigenous and queer individuals. Susan grew up on Six Nations territory, experiencing a joyful childhood that included the best parts of community, surrounded by family and friends. But she was also formed by her family’s trauma in the wake of residential schools. It wasn’t until she was in her 20s that Susan was able to see the complicated effects of oppression and internalized racism, and began to process what it all meant to her. Susan knew she was gay at the age of seven — she also knew that it wasn’t safe to tell anyone. But when her friends started dying of AIDS in the 1980s, Susan realized it was important for her to be out, visible and proud. Now, Susan has been nominated for Moderator of The United Church of Canada — the most senior elected position in the national church. In the lead up to the election, she reflects on how slowly the Church has moved in its reconciliation efforts with Indigenous people, as well as with queer people. It’s clear to Susan that the church can do a better job, and she feels called to be part of that movement. Susan accepts the nomination and steps into the spotlight as the council votes. As the church and Indigenous people continue to heal, Susan hopes that the teachings of love, compassion, respect and kindness will shape new generations of people to be good to one another. In one hand, she holds her Longhouse faith and Indigenous traditions. In the other, she holds a firm belief that there is goodness at the core of the Church. The point, she says, is to bring people closer together.

Documentary | 21 min

Devout and Out: Susan

Finding the Secret Path documents the last year of Gord Downie's life and his effort to bring the story of Chanie Wenjack to the national stage, raising awareness of the dark legacy of Canada's residential school system. Wenjack, a 12-year-old Anishnaabe boy, died while trying to escape a residential school in northern Ontario in 1966.

Biography | 43 min

Finding The Secret Path

In 1967 ten Indigenous athletes ran the Pan Am Games torch from Minneapolis to Winnipeg. Just before they entered the opening ceremonies, the torch was handed to a white athlete.

Documentary | 19 min

Run as One: The Journey of the Front Runners

It’s not your average book club. A group of inmates at Toronto South Detention Centre are studying Secret Path, Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel about Chanie Wenjack. Chanie was a young Anishinaabe boy who died while running away from residential school in 1966 - simply because he wanted to go home. Many themes in Chanie’s story resonate with these inmates: isolation, identity, fear, anger, the desire for freedom. Secret Path: Freedom to Speak captures a discussion within the walls of the jail and reveals how Chanie's story has had a profound impact on each of these incarcerated individuals. 
The book club program is a creation of the Toronto Public Library and Literal Change, a Toronto- based non-profit that runs reading groups and literacy programs for Ontario’s incarcerated population. In 2011, the Correctional Service of Canada estimated that two-thirds of federal inmates do not have the basic level of literacy required to function in modern society. Through this program, inmates are taught reading and writing skills to help them achieve their educational and career goals when they reintegrate back into society. In addition, more than twenty-five percent of federal inmates are of Indigenous descent, despite making up only about four per cent of the total Canadian population.

Documentary | 1 episode

The Secret Path: Freedom to Speak

When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada released its final report into the history of Canada's residential school system, it made 94 recommendations to repair the harm caused by residential schools - and move forward with reconciliation. Among the recommendations: the need to educate Canadians on residential schools and their impacts. At the Country Day School in King City, Ontario a high school drama teacher and Tragically Hip fan Scott Garbe saw an opportunity to make a difference with the school’s spring 2017 senior performance. After Scott heard about Gord Downie’s cancer diagnosis, he knew he wanted to produce a play based on some of Gord’s songs. When Secret Path was released in October 2016, Scott felt that Chanie Wenjack’s story needed to be a big part of the show. Several months later, after hundreds of hours of workshops and rehearsals, it’s finally time to premiere the play: Ahead By A Century. On the day of the dress rehearsal, Scott invites a very special guest to watch scenes from the play: Tim “Redfeather” Thomas, a 74-year-old Mi'kmaq elder. After the performance, Redfeather tells that cast about his own experiences as residential school. In that moment, the stories the students tell in the play become very, very real. The Secret Path: Ahead by a Century features performances by students and interviews with the teacher, cast members and Redfeather, set to the to the haunting and powerful music of Gord Downie’s Secret Path.

The Secret Path: Ahead By A Century

Gord Downie's Secret Path tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a young boy who died trying to get home from residential school in 1966. It's been taught in classrooms across Canada this year. Daisy and Pearl Wenjack, Chanie's sisters, visit a school in Toronto where the children have a special surprise for the family.

Documentary | 10 min

The Secret Path: In the Classroom

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