On MaTrent University marked the official launch of the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies. The largest lecture hall on campus was subsequently named Wenjack Theatre in Wenjack's honour. In 1973, indigenous students at Trent University lobbied for a building to be named after Wenjack. Today the story of Wenjack has been seen as a symbol of resistance against the residential school system. The Wenjack affair along with many other incidents would bring legislative reforms and class action lawsuits as well as the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The article brought the ordeal to national attention. A year after Wenjack's death an article written by journalist Ian Adams, "The Lonely Death of Charlie Wenjack," was published in February 1967 in Maclean's magazine. The Indian education system causes tremendous emotional & adjustment problems for these children.Įthical questions were raised and it brought to light the abuse and treatment of indigenous children in the residential school system. On November 17 an inquest was begun and a report was commissioned and determined that: On October 27, 1966, Wenjack was buried at the cemetery on the reserve beside the Albany River. Glenn Davidson determined the cause of the death was attributed to exposure and hunger. Elwood contacted the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) who recovered the body an hour later with help from a CN section crew. His body was discovered beside the track at 11:20 am on October 23 by Elwood McIvor, a CN railway engineer on freight train number No. He collapsed and died sometime on the morning of October 23 in a rock cut near Farlane. Bruises indicated that he fell several times. Evidence given at the inquest into his death showed that he had made his way another 20 km (12 mi) east along the CN mainline. Wenjack had only a light windbreaker and walked for 36 hours in the wind as the temperature dropped to −6 ☌ (21 ☏). The Kellys gave him some food and matches and suggested that he ask for help from the section maintenance crews stationed along the line. He had found a CN passenger timetable which included a map and was using it as guide to get back home. After four days with the Kellys, Wenjack left to follow the Canadian National Railway (CN) mainline, heading towards Ogoki Post, 600 km (370 mi) east and north from Kenora. The three boys stayed with Ralph and Jackie's uncle, Charley Kelly, in Redditt. On the morning of October 16, 1966, Wenjack and two school friends, orphaned brothers Ralph and Jackie MacDonald, ran away from the residential school, making it as far as Redditt, 31 km (19 mi) north of Kenora. He was known to have a good sense of humour, according to the Cree Principal of the school, and was always the first to recognize a pun or riddle. Wenjack began his schooling at the age of nine and was put in remedial classes soon after. At the time, 150 students lived at the school. The school was funded by the Canadian government and overseen by the Women’s Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church. Once there, he was given the name 'Charlie'.
At the age of nine, he was sent, along with his two sisters, to board at the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora. Early life, education and escape Ĭhanie Wenjack was born in 1954 on the Ogoki Post on the Marten Falls Reserve.
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