Often, the reporting on Gord Downie and The Secret Path called upon Indigenous voices to reproduce the dominant culture and ideology. In this way, Downie could have left a legacy of ethical capital and achieved transcendence without reproducing a relationship of dominance. For instance, by amplifying Indigenous voices instead of his own, by acknowledging the Indigenous artists who had previously told the Wenjack story, and importantly, by avoiding the use of the first-person in his narrative (including embodying and acting out Wenjack's last moments during a performance). There are many ways that Downie might have carried out this project so that he shared his star power with Indigenous people. For me, this reflected a sense of self-importance … the decision to determine and articulate what is and is not reconciliation belongs to survivors." Non-Indigenous activists must learn to self-critically share power with and move past the legacy of colonial thinking that continues to structure our relationships with Indigenous peoples (Wallace 157). Indeed, Hayden King wrote, following the performance of The Secret Path, "It was proclaimed that we all just took our first giant step towards genuine reconciliation. Moreover, an element of ownership is implied in "Canada's story" and "call ourselves 'Canada,'" suggesting that "the story is more about healing and reconciliation for Canadians than it is for Indigenous peoples" (Macfarlane 94). According to Macfarlane, the repetition of "Canada" in Downie's artist statement stresses Canadian rather than Indigenous sovereignty (94). It is, therefore, necessary for allies to critically self-inspect the ways in which their own narratives, behaviours, and social structures are invisibly embedded in their identities and reproduce "a privileged status of dominance in our relationships with Indigenous peoples" (Wallace 156). For Wallace, being an ally means that non-Indigenous activists must understand that their "political, cultural and social standpoints and situated knowledge are located in the space of privileged status as settlers on Indigenous lands" (156). This ultimately generated a narrative that was more about Downie than Wenjack or Indigenous people more generally. Unfortunately, though the deep spiritual needs that led to The Secret Path are clear, journalists were repeatedly tempted to appoint Downie an ally to Indigenous peoples without confirming whether or not he was, in fact, meeting the standard of what constitutes an ally. Downie chose the third option, aiming to sell Canadians on reconciliation. In such cases, there are three possible solutions: (1) return to rigid practices and the protection of an authority (fundamentalism) (2) infatuation with new forms of spirituality (3) " invention of new integrative communal symbols by means of individual conversion" (Corten and Doran 568). Corten and Doran argue that "the loss of a transcendental referent, most notably the fear of God, leaves individuals staring into the abyss of their own violence" (568). Speaking to Vice, Isadore Day, Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief of Ontario observes, "In his own time of reflection about his own mortality has drawn a line of truth about what's important," (Kloke). The word spirituality itself, according to Collinson, concerns transcendence: something with the capacity to connect an individual human being to a significance and meaning that is greater than the individual ego. In the face of mortality, people often seek connection with an over-arching value, commitment or meaning and this connection often takes a religious or spiritual form (Collinson). Similarly, The Secret Path, is Downie's transcendence.
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