In the year 1963, nine-year-old Anishinaabe boy Chanie Wenjack was forcibly removed from his family in Ogoki Post along with his four sisters by the Canadian residential school system and taken to the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario.
Chanie attended the school for three years until October 16, 1966, when, at the age of twelve years old, along with twelve other children, he ran away. According to sources, only three truly escaped the school; the other nine were caught within 24 hours of their escape.
Chanie stayed with the other two escapees’ family for four days before he attempted to walk 600 kilometres (400 miles) to his home along the Canadian National Railway mainline tracks. He was wearing only light clothing with a light windbreaker jacket when he escaped. He walked 20 kilometres (12 miles) before he died on October 23, 1966, from exposure to the cold and hunger. A railway worker found him.
Chanie’s death was what sparked the first-ever coroner’s inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canada’s residential school system. His story is what inspired the creation of The Secret Path.
The Secret Path celebrates its ten-year anniversary of the project’s release this year. It has been sixty years since Chanie Wenjack’s death. The Secret Path was created by songwriter Gord Downie. This was his last project created before his unfortunate passing in 2017.
The album was written and performed by Gord Downie, a Canadian artist and a member of the Tragically Hip, who also teamed up with illustrator Jeff Lemire to create the graphic novel and the film.
The way The Secret Path tells the story of Chanie Wenjack is respectful, with the first few seconds of the film conveying why Chanie was running to return home. Explaining how indigenous children were taken away from their families and forced into residential schools, they were forbidden from speaking their language and practicing their culture. There is no speaking during this and a few sentences appear on screen to explain.
The album, graphic novel, and film feature 10 songs/poems.
There are very few spoken lines in the film, but those spoken lines correspond to the lyrics from the songs in the film.
One of these instances was during “Swing Set”, which was the song playing when Chanie and his friends carried out their plan of escaping the school. During the song, they kept asking “Now?”, which was spoken faintly while the word played in the song.
Another detail in the film is the symbolism. A huge example is the crow. In Anishinaabe traditions, the crow is seen as a Guide, a helper and a messenger. In the film, the crow represents Chanie Wenjack’s Indigenous identity, culture and spirit. A strong moment in the story is after the final song concludes. The Crow is shown flying away from Chanie, which it signifies the alienation he feels from his culture and the pieces of his identity and life being stripped away from him by the school..
The film is historical, and the team behind the film put their whole hearts into it. If you want to learn more about the history of Chanie, the film is available for free on YouTube, and the book is available in libraries and bookstores.
The album is available to listen to on several major music streaming platforms and through official video channels.
It is a huge recommendation if you are interested in learning about the impact of residential schools, listening to songs with emotional meaning, and watching good animation with meaning.
The film shows the impact of the residential school on an innocent child and how he died trying to escape from a prison