American Reacts - Gord Downie's The Secret Path Part 4 (conclusion). See Description for Parts 1-3

[Music] hello my Canadian cousins and welcome back this is the part four and the conclusion to gore Downey's the secret path and the tragic story of channy wenjak who escaped from the residential school and tried to make his way back home and tragically passed away uh succumbed to the elements and if you watch part three oh that was just heart-wrenching this is an artistic rendering of an interpretation of of what he make might have gone through um I'm Gonna Save my final thoughts for the conclusion and let's just get into it see you at the end my friends thank you oh and please don't forget to like And subscribe thanks [Music] foreign [Music] as big as a world is we're all connected in some way you know I don't know how but I know that you may be connected to somebody almost like a sister and a brother and I think that's why God was connected to Charlie [Music] I wonder if the one Jack sisters were also in residential schools and I you know would love if so to hear their story of survivorship [Music] my grandson hilarious oh yeah I didn't know it was keeping score [Laughter] knowing that you have cancer even when you discuss a serious topic it's always good to have a sense of humor it's not the easiest thing to have I mean when you travel with an old on it so I'd like to thank you for coming Mom thank you I feel really great to see you guys finally meet you we played our last show a week or so ago a lot of people watched it Rock Show band planets on the show right you're tragically oh wow I didn't realize that this was so close in time to that um I had misspoken on my earlier video and said that that last show I it was in Hamilton Ontario which I was wrong about it's are we it was in Kingston and I think those of you who corrected me and I realized oh I'm in the middle of it and I realized oh there's like in the middle of the show I had made no plans no sense of wait a second there's 20 million people watching I can say whatever I want yeah yeah and what I want to say is this ah there's something wrong with this country it's not it's something really wrong something's not right down south none of us I'm 52. heard a darn thing about what was happening up here at all oh [Music] the tracks I wish some I see tracks in they think of Charlie and I will stop and look down the tracks and I will and I would feel the distance you know this is how far I still have to go [Music] foreign that was a very interesting insightful comment um looking down the tracks that Charlie walked down the distance that he couldn't cover he didn't make how long he had to go and she's using it metaphorically it's a beautiful scent to me they all do we all do he was always proud when he accomplished something even Little Things knowing that song ashes of Love used to sing that at night we used to dance to when he was sick after he had his lung surgery he was up all hours of the night because he couldn't sleep with the pain so I'd stay up with him and in the Moonlight we dance well everybody was sleeping and when he had left that day for the school my name wasn't on the list so I was told I couldn't go and he kept on asking me why I couldn't leave and I told him you know my name is not a list I got to stay home and he said I don't want to leave I don't want to go he says you're not going I didn't know then I think you must have known he wasn't going to come back but I know now that he knew he wasn't going to come back like and you know what I want from this I said I want high schools schools to be built on every Reserve high schools so that children don't have to leave until there's such time that they're older to take care of themselves if Charlie's life can save other children then I've done my work I've done what I've intended to do and I thank God for everybody that they've come here sick as gorgeous is serious I'm glad just come here I thank them from the bottom of my heart very rich [Music] today I feel incredible amounts of joy and shame I just think he's the symbol I mean the country's incredibly lucky to have you for such intelligence such patience beautiful and I also have to imagine he's standing there thinking of his own mortality at this point being as sick as he was I also find it remarkable that um Charlie's sister is wearing a Canada sweatshirt you know there's obviously I I I couldn't speculate what is in her mind about it but as as much as what's gone on and what her family had to suffer through she still seems like considers herself a proud Canadian and it's probably a lot about the country that she is proud of um I would love to talk to her or people like her about that and you know even in this country there are certainly Native Americans who are proud Americans and they serve in the military and they do all that they do for you know a country that has historically mistreated them terribly stop is that uh the rest of the world see what went on in Canada but to not stop there to continually heal that whatever happened there to continually heal and to do it everywhere everything that you can to bring that about he is the right person to tell the story because uh the Creator chosen we didn't I didn't and I'm glad it was good you know you will be forever remembered [Music] I think she just answered my question you know she wants healing and I guess that is the entire purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation reconciliation being part of it [Music] foreign [Music] you can't see me I Am The Stranger [Music] know what I mean navigates [Music] I walk above the path jump into the ride and then jump to the left on a secret path the one nobody know and I'm moving fast foreign on the path nobody knows [Music] I Am The Stranger [Music] you can't see me I am a stranger [Applause] do you know what I mean I am a stranger wonder if this is just rehearsal or are they recording I don't see recording real quick I don't know [Music] [Applause] [Music] I Am The Stranger [Music] foreign [Music] wow thank you for taking this journey with me those of you who who did uh I really am glad to have shared this with you you know I I find that this was extremely important to do and I don't want to repeat things I've said in my uh prior segments of this video I think I'm going to sum up like this I've got a little YouTube channel here it's very small but I connect with thousands of people not hundreds of thousands and um Sometimes some videos just hundreds of people that's still a lot and so if I can bring you know topics like this into Consciousness for discussion and learn especially what has happened with the Aboriginal people of North America and I'm sorry if you think that I've come I've been comparing Canada and the United States for some reason uh where it is suggested Canada was worse at this than we were here it's that's not it I know more about what's going on here and the comparisons are appropriate because it's what has happened to Aboriginal people specifically in North America First Nations people um but it's happened to Aboriginal people all over the world you know Australia New Zealand anywhere you can think that there has been European colonization and so that's why I've spoken about it but at the end of the day this did not happen to me this Gord Downey I've got this little YouTube channel Gord Downey is a famous musician and I love him for doing this and I love him for using his the power of His Fame and platform to to do this in in such a sincere way that it's the way he chose to end his life it's the way he chose to spend the last year of his life and it was obviously so important to him and he felt so damn strong about it strongly but at the end of the day these stories aren't ours to tell and I hope from the perspective of any First Nations people who might be watching this that you don't roll your eyes and say oh there's just some white guy up here trying to tell our story um I think cognizant of that and what I would really like to do from this point forward in my personal exploration is here some of the testimonials some of the testimony from from people during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission because although Channel died and it was absolutely tragic and he represents so many that did not survive there are I don't even know how many untold amounts of survivors out there with their own stories and I think it's important to hear their stories um and let them be leaders in the process I hope I'm not totally off base my friends um those are just one guy's thoughts for what they're worth anyway all right so I think uh next video I'm gonna post is gonna be more Canadian comedy so we can have something a little bit more light-hearted than this but won't be as nearly as important in my mind thank you for watching and I hope to see you soon my friends take care [Music] oh [Music]