Secret Path by Gord Downie Book Analysis

​​You wake up in a crowded room, surrounded by your brothers and sisters, all of which are unable to communicate in their native tongue. You attend lessons teaching you to forget any knowledge of your previous life, words painting over your culture, aimed at removing the heart of your identity by covering up the truth of your existence. You endure endless abuse and mistreatment- refusal to conform gets you killed. However, when you address the long-term damage this has had on your family, you get dismissed, with claims of it was too long ago and you are too financially well-compensated to still be affected. I have experienced many different forms of trauma throughout my life, which has resulted in mental health issues that necessitate treatment daily. I have attempted to take my own life several times due to a lack of aid and options. Therefore, while I do not relate to Chanie’s situation and circumstance, I know how much traumatic events can scar people and make them desperate enough to make illogical decisions. Ultimately, recovery and addressing one's issues by seeking help, (especially for individuals whose culture has been gradually stripped down from dehumanization) is essential to reconnect with yourself and the core of your being and identity. 

In the Secret Path, Chanie, an indigenous child is taken from his home, away from his loving father and grandmother, to be put into a school meant to eliminate his culture and previous life through dehumanization and assimilation. At the Residential School, the Indigenous students endure all forms of abuse, separation from their kin, malnourishment, and gradual overwriting of their identities to conform to the standards of Westernized civilization. After a traumatic event involving sexual assault, Chanie is unable to remain at the school any longer and escapes during recess in an attempt to find his way home- making his way to the railway tracks. As he travels the road, Chanie becomes reflective, his memories taking prominence due to the inactivity along his path (flashbacks are how we see the events taking place). Along the road, Chanie notes connections to his past, such as the matches he uses to stay alive, given to him by his grandmother, and a raven, who represents a tempting guardian, urging him to cease his journey. As his matches run low and he loses his health and mind to the cold, he gradually slows down his pace as his hope dwindles. His eventual death occurs when he subdues into numbness and envisions his final time alive as a reunion with his family and reconnection with whom he was supposed to be.

While there are different interpretations of Chanie’s death as well as the events within the story, the key idea to be taken away and the real root issue at hand is Residential Schools, and the issues they cause even after their closure. A traumatic system operating to such a large scale degree was common, even as little as 20 years ago, yet somehow Indigenous people who have endured the horrors of such are demonized with their struggles stigmatized. A crucial aspect of the ending is Chanie comes to terms with his death and his reunion with his family and true self, for this is what the author wanted us to remember as a result of publishing the story. He wanted these people who have endured injustice to reunite with their identities and reignite their passion for their culture, without enduring a fate like Chanie. Reconnecting with one’s identity can be done by addressing what events have stripped yourself of meaning, and aiming to rekindle this meaning through the confrontation of the root issue (in Chanie's case, the School that took him away). Growth and change can be accomplished by breaking this cycle of losing oneself, and ensuring individuals' specific needs are continuously met on their journey of reconciliation and healing. 

Enduring traumatic events, especially during a part of someone's life meant to jump-start your growth as a person, understandably changes how one sees the world. While I do not wish trauma on anyone, significant events like abuse shape who you are and therefore shape your identity. My trauma and the abuse I have endured have made me into the person

I am today, which I need to accept and receive assistance with as needed. In the case of residential schools, the shaping of an individual's current identity by dealing with the implications of a community that took your previous self away requires coming to terms with the past and attempting to rekindle who you once were. Ideas of how to rediscover who you are after such events (even without being indigenous) include communication with others of said lost culture, individual research and self-discovery, reflection on the past and using that to look to the future, and making choices that can help you thrive. Using these methods combined with patience and curiosity can assist your recovery and healing. 

I believe that the key lesson to be taken away is that regardless of the scale of events taking place, it is critical to recognize the negative effects they have on people and for those people to realize they may recover and grow. Rehabilitation is always possible and there will always be people willing to help, and turning to harmful ways of coping such as substances only perpetuates the cycle of harm you endured and bestows it upon others. Using the story of The Secret Path as an example, you can see how the events of the story shaped the young boy into a fearful individual who would rather die than continue enduring abuse. The impact events have on people needs to be taken seriously and we must denounce the idea of every person being unaffected by events that have harmed them. Confronting the events that have caused one's issues and acknowledging how they have shaped us is crucial for discovering and accepting our identities.