This is Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack:
Chanie was 12 years old when he escaped with 12 other children from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario in October of 1966. He had been forcibly removed from his family and made a student there for 3 years. Chanie was attempting to walk along the CN railway for 371 miles to his home on the Marten Falls Reserve but tragically died from hunger and exposure at Farlane, Ontario on October 23rd. He was wearing only a light windbreaker at the time and walked for 36 hours straight, dying in 21 degree cold. All he had on him were a jar of unused matches he'd taken from a home along the way.
An Inquest into Chanie's death was performed in November which brought to light community concerns around the treatment of Indigenous children in boarding school and the effect the separation from their home communities and families had on them emotionally. Chanie's death would be one of many that would lead to changing in regulations around the operation of these schools as well as the eventual Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His story is often shared as one of resistance of the boarding school and its horrors, and buildings and community spaces have been named after him. May Chanie's memory be a blessing and may his family and community receive justice.
Tribal Information: Chanie is from the Marten Falls Reserve
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