Northern Sask. chief honours Gord Downie with moccasins

A Saskatchewan chief was moved to tears by theAssembly of First Nations' honouring ofGordDownie.

"It was very, very moving," said Lac LaRongeIndian Band Chief TammyCook-Searson, who was invited to the Tuesday gathering.

"I couldn't help but think about how lovingGordDownieis and how much he's brought to First Nations people, and really immersing himself into the impact of the residential school and the family that hehonoured."

• 'Man who walks among the stars': AFN honours tearfulGordDownie

Downie, the Tragically Hip's lead singer and an advocate for First Nations people, was honouredfor his recent projectSecret Path, which tells the storyof 12-year-oldChanieWenjack, who died in 1966 trying to escape from a residential school nearKenora, Ont.

The ceremony was a moment Cook-Searson will never forget.

Saskatchewan-made gift

When Cook-Searson looked through the agenda for the AFN gathering and saw the organization would be honouring Downie,she immediately called National Chief Perry Bellegarde with this question:"Can you find out what size his feet are?"

The hunt for moccasins was on.Cook-Searson wanted them to be beaded on the back and front.

"It's hard to get somebody to make them that fast for that amount of work," she said.

Cook-Searson called Silver Wolf Trading Post in Saskatoon. The store sent her photos of all the moccasins they had in Downie's size and she found the perfect pair. At the time, she didn't know who had made them; eventually, she discovered they were the creation of Blanche Little fromAhtahkakoop Cree Nation.

"They're very beautiful and they're just perfect for him and I hope that he really loves them," Cook-Searson said.

Never forget

One big takeaway forCook-Searson from Downie's comments: How it took 150 years to get to this point and how "it's going to take another 150 years to make it right," she said.

"So, we have to keep working on that. You can tell that he's really loving and caring, that he's really immersed himself in wanting to do something.

"We know that he's not well and he could be doing something else," she added.

Cook-Searson said many people in her family herself included went to residential schools, yet Downie has helped even them understand their effects.

She recalled Bobby Bird,who ran away from Timber Bay residential school and whose remains were found many years later. Cook-Searson attended his funeral in La Ronge.

"It's important for us to keep working on reconciliation, working together, building our relationships as First Nations people and then with everybody in Canada," she said.

Cook-Searson said her family will be watching Secret Path at Christmas.