The Nakoda Elementary School (NES) in Morley presented a Tragically Hip themed show last week and it captured some unexpected attention. The performance included a pre-recorded story based on the indigenous spirit name of Gord Downie, the lead singer of Tragically Hip. Drew Van Allen, the Grade 4 teacher who wrote and co-ordinated the performance said the video ended up being viewed by Patrick Downie – Gord's brother. "My friend ... has connections to the Ontario, Canadian rock group, I sent him the video and he sent it to a friend who sent it to a friend and it ended up on the doorstep of Patrick Downie," Van Allen said. "It's very surreal." Van Allen has been working at NES for the last 10 years and has recently become the music teacher. After the passing of the musician - who made significant contributions to Indigenous-Canadian community building - in 2017, Van Allen decided to tribute this year's performance to Gord. "The music speaks for itself. We've always felt that. It's just personal, they speak about places and things they can relate to. I think in that sense they kind of connected with Gord and the fact that he drew so much attention to First Nation's issues - that really helped his cause and theirs," he said. One of the students' favourite songs to perform is New Orleans is Sinking. "When we were rehearsing it, we have to kind of calm them down because they just crank it out so that one's a good one," Van Allen said. The play is based on the spiritual name bestowed on Gord, titled The Journey of Wicapi Omani: The man who walks among the stars. Van Allen was told by Donald Spidell, the man who officiated the spiritual naming ceremony to Gord, there is no mythology behind the name. "That was really nice to be given the green light culturally to kind of have at it," Van Allen said about writing the story behind the name. However, he did get cultural guidance from the school's cultural teacher and from the school's elder, Tina Fox. Half of the play is narrated in the Stoney language but there are English subtitles on the screen. Van Allen said he received a letter from Patrick Downie after viewing the short film. "I lightly have it memorized because I read it so many times because it was incredible just to hear. Basically, he said that this was Gord's heaven and that this was everything that he wanted and that this is exactly what Patrick himself needs to move on because he lost his brother," Van Allen said. "This is kind of what Gord wanted, I think , when he said let's build a bridge and connect First Nations people with the rest of Canada. I think that's the best message we kind of express - we exist, we're here, it's a beautiful culture and sometimes everyone needs help." Ocean Dixon, a Grade 4 student at NES, introduced the play as well as performed to an audience of about 50 last week. "It felt really exciting," Dixon said. "At the same time, I was really nervous in front of all those people." Dixon said her favourite part was when one of her friends got up to dance. "I learned that it's good to respect people and how to listen," she said, referring to what Drew taught her about the Tragically Hip lyrics. The screen version of the play is available on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nvXdqMRbic.
