On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - CDS Walked for Chanie Wenjack

When Phyllis was six-years-old, she was sent to a residential school in British Columbia. Upon arrival, she was stripped of all her belongings, including a new orange shirt purchased for her by her grandmother. The colour orange became symbolically linked with the plight of Indigenous children in the residential schools, and many Canadians wear an orange shirt on this day. Many faculty and students at The Country Day School were wearing orange on Monday.

On Monday, Middle and Senior School students took part in CDS’s first Walk for Wenjack. Chanie Wenjack was an Indigenous boy from Ogoki, a community with no road access in the far north of Ontario. At the age of nine, he was forcibly taken to a residential school in Kenora, more than 600km from his home. In 1966, at age 12, he ran away from the school to try and return by foot to Ogoki. He walked along a railway line in late October in sub-zero temperatures with only a light cotton jacket for protection. Chanie died of exposure alone by the tracks after only covering a little over 40km.

Chanie’s story shocked the nation at the time, and it was subsequently covered by Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip, who was immensely moved by Chanie’s plight. Gord Downie helped establish the Downie & Wenjack Fund, which works to raise awareness of Chanie’s story and the issues involving survivors and Indigenous Peoples today focusing particularly on schools. CDS became a ‘Legacy School’ in 2015-2016 when faculty members Scott Garbe, Gisa Bevacqua-Tirone and Fraser Fell and the student cast wrote and staged the play Ahead by a Century: A Theatrical Experience Inspired by the Words and Music of Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip. Gord Downie’s project about Chanie Wenjack’s story, The Secret Path, was central to this production, which became the subject of a CBC short documentary directed by Gord Downie’s brother, Mike.

The inclusion of the Walk For Wenjack this year was an attempt at creating an ‘actionable’ act of reconciliation. Organized by members of the Social Justice Club, Middle and Senior School students and faculty members heard an overview of what truth and reconciliation means and learned the background of Chanie’s story during Morning Assembly. At 11:15, we gathered at the flagpole in front of the school where the orange Survivors’ Flag was raised earlier that morning. 

Students departed by grade to walk a route through the trails behind the school. Signs were posted at intervals throughout the route so that the students walked through the events of Chanie’s short life which were linked to symbols found in the Survivors’ Flag. The goal was to walk, talk, and reflect on aspects of truth and reconciliation. The weather was wonderful, making for a perfect day to connect with the past to consider where our journey of reconciliation will lead us next.