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| The only picture of Chanie Wenjack |
Stories can take an overwhelming issue and make it
personal. Stories can open our hearts, so we can empathize and connect to people we have never met. Here is a story that is being told in Canada. This is Chanie Wenjack's story and it is the story of thousands of children. When Chanie was twelve years old he escaped from the residential school in Kenora, ON where he had been sent and where he had been lonely, frightened and abused. He tried to walk the 600 km back to his family but he died of exposure beside the railway tracks that he believed would lead him home.
You may have seen the Heritage Minute on TV about Chanie, narrated by his sister Pearl and written by author Joseph Boyden. It was the inquest into his death that
got the country to start questioning the residential school system which
finally ended 30 years later although the legacy of this system still lives on in a myriad of ways.
This month, musician Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip
and author Joseph Boyden are telling his story again. Three years ago,Gord’s brother, Mike Downie
heard Chanie’s story and showed a Macleans article from 1967 about him to Gord and
Joseph. They were immediately compelled
to tell this young boy’s story which touched them deeply.
Gord Downie wrote poems which turned into songs for
Chanie. Gord and Mike met with artist Jeff Lemire to see if he would create a graphic novel to accompany the
songs. He was very busy, but the images
for the book began to come to him right away and he knew that he too was part
of the project. Then the images from the
book became a 60 minute movie with the CD as a soundtrack and footage of Gord
meeting with Chanie’s family was included. The film
is very powerful and the music is deeply emotional. Alvin Fiddler, Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski
Nation said that his friend Gord, “wants us to move from awareness to caring.” (Toronto Star Oct. 24, 2016)  |
| Joseph Boyden |
At the same time, Joseph Boyden worked on a novella
called Wenjack in which he tells
Chanie’s story. As he was writing, the
voices of animals came to him, animals that accompanied Chanie on his lonely
journey home. The chapters in the book
are accompanied by lovely pen and ink drawings of fish, a crow, hummingbird,
owl, mouse, spider, wood tick, beaver, snow goose, rabbit and lynx drawn by
artist Kent Monkman . These animals appear on the cover of the book and they bring to life the Indigenous storytelling of a boy who is surrounded by all his relations even on this solitary journey.
In all of these storytelling projects, Chanie Wenjack’s
story becomes the story of the 150,000 Indigenous children who were taken from
their homes to Indian Residential Schools from the 1870’s to 1996 when the last
school closed. So far records for 6000
of these children who died in the schools from abuse, starvation and disease
and those who died trying to escape have been recovered. The numbers are too big to comprehend. But the story of Chanie can be told and imagined and felt.
In the interviews with the creators of these expressions,
the men who were fathers spoke about their own sons who are the same age. It was no leap at all to imagine having their
sons taken away and never coming back.
Anyone who has been a child, had a child, or has grandchildren, in short
all of us can choose to open our hearts and feel this story. That is what will
connect us – empathy and a desire for healing.
Healing for those for whom this story is an inter-generational one that
has been told for a long time, and for those for whom this story is brand new.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) did a
survey which revealed some startling facts.
Only 66% of Canadians even know about the existence of these residential
schools and only 40% know of the existence of the TRC which was set up to
collect the stories of the survivors and to document the history and legacy of
these schools. However, over 90% of
Canadians want to learn more about this.
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| Pearl, Gord and Chanie |
And that is what makes these collaborative projects so
important. In the film Secret Path Downie travels to Northern
Ontario to visit Pearl Achneepineskum, Chanie’s
sister. She says that she always wanted
Chanie’s life to mean something and so she is happy to have his story told so
that Canadians can learn about what happened to so many children. She also wants to see high schools on
reserves so that today, young people don’t have to leave home at a young age just to
get an education. This so often ends
badly. Currently, children on reserves
receive only 60% of the funding of children in the rest of Canada for education
because of federal funding which is responsible for education on reserves as opposed to provincial funding for the other children. Federal politicians need to hear from all of us so
that that gets rectified.
After the streaming of Secret Path, the CBC hosted a discussion with an Indigenous panel including moderator Melanie Nepinak Hadley, film maker Tasha Hubbard, Ryan Moran of the TRC and Jesse Wente of TIFF and the CBC. The panelists emphasized that
all Canadians have to learn about this part of our history. Secret
Path and Wendack are easily accessible
ways to begin this process. The Truth
and Reconciliation Commission’s final report is available in a Summary form as a pdf and in book form
as well. The summary has 94 Calls to
Action. The panel suggested reading
these, picking one that resonates with you and taking action. And they highlighted the need for
non-Indigenous Canadians to listen, really listen to what Indigenous people are
saying. That listening will take courage
as people discover that as Gord says, “we are not the country we thought we
were.”
Panelist Jesse Wente asked what a new Canada would look
like. This question is being asked in
more and more places. What will our country look
like when Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are all allowed to be healthy,
educated, able to practice their cultures and make their unique and important
contributions to Canada?
Secret
Path was screened in Ottawa on Oct. 18th. Gord Downie performed the songs from the CD in front of the
screen. Dozens of Chanie’s family
members were there. His family has
joined with Gord Downie’s family to create the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund to “foster new relationships between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, while strengthening the voices and work
of groups already making a difference. Money raised for the DWF will be used to
create new relationships for reconciliation.”
These relationships are already beginning. At the end of the concert and screening,
Gord and Pearl held hands while Pearl sang a traditional Anishinaabe healing
song. She spoke about her family and
then sobbed. After a moment Gord took
the mic and said, “It’s just time to get started. It’s time to
get going, OK?”
This is a time of listening, healing and taking action. We are writing a new story together. Let's get going. OK!
This is a time of listening, healing and taking action. We are writing a new story together. Let's get going. OK!
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