Several Walks for Wenjack were held this year (2026) across Bruce County. Among them, was an afternoon walk at Fairy Lake in Southampton on October 19th, that also included a special screening of The Secret Path that evening. The powerful film shown in the Bruce Power Theatre at the Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre, tells the story of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack.
In 1966, Chanie Wenjack ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School in Kenora, Ontario. He walked for 36 hours along the train tracks, trying to reach home, before dying of exposure on October 22nd. He was just 12 years old. His death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in the residential school system. Chanie’s story, tragically, is like other stories of Indigenous children who were taken to Residential Schools within Canada, far from their families, their homes and their culture.
Also, this year, was a walk held at Saugeen First Nation that began at the Amphitheatre on October 21st (2026).
Among the speakers were Saugeen First Nation Chief Sonya Roote, Byron Millette of Nawash Cape Croker (Neyaashiinigmiing) and Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau.
Chief Sonya Roote thanked everyone for attending. “Chanie Wenjack reminds us of the many Indigenous children who were taken from their families and culture to be sent to Residential Schools. Reconciliation begins with remembering and reflecting on those who came before us. My own father was a Residential School survivor.”
Saugeen Shores Mayor, Luke Charbonneau, added that it was a perfect day to remember Chanie Wenjack. “He was a young boy taken to Residential School and all he wanted was to go home. Who, of us, has not also felt that need to go home. Chanie decided he would run home not knowing that it was 600 miles away – he didn’t make it. It brings home the traumatic impact that the schools had on communities and that impact continues today. We have to remember all those children and try to listen and build an understanding so that, together, we can go on a good path toward reconciliation.”
“We cannot re-write history,” said Byron Millette of Nawash Unceded First Nation (Neyaashiinigmiing), “or the story of the 150 thousand children who were taken away from their families and culture. Each year, the Walk draws more people who are learning about the importance of our people’s history.”
Millette then read the moving lyrics of a song written by Wlllie Dunn in 1971 about Chanie (Charlie) titled ‘Walk on Through the Snow’
Walk on, little Charlie
Walk on through the snow
Moving down the railway line
Trying to make it home
And he’s made it forty miles
Six hundred left to go
It’s a long old lonesome journey
Shuffling through the snow
Lonely as a single star in the skies above
His father in a mining camp, his mother in the ground
And he’s looking for his dad
And he’s looking up for love
Just a lost little boy by the railroad track
Moving homeward bound
He’s a-gettin’ mighty hungry
It’s been a time since last he’s ate
And as the night grows colder
He wonders of his fate
For his legs are wracked with pain
As he staggers through the night
As he sees through his troubled eyes
His hands are turning white
Is that the great wendigo come to look upon my face?
And are the stars exploding down the misty aisle of space?
Who’s that coming down the track, walking up to me?
Her arms outstretched and waiting, waiting just for me
Little Charlie Wenjack, shuffling through the snow
Moving down the railway line
Trying to make it home
And he’s made it forty miles
Six hundred left to go
It’s a long old lonesome journey
Shuffling through the snow
Elder Shirley John started the ceremony with a prayer and said that she, too, was a residential school survivor. “Being here, brings lots of memories. We did not know how far home was from the school on the other side of the lake near Blind River.
We remember little Chanie Wenjack and the path that he walked with stars above whispering ‘freedom’. I pray that each tear may water the seeds of a future where chlldren are never again taken from their homes. There are only a few of us now who remain in the community who were in residential school but I remember … i remember the people from here and Cape Croker and most have now gone on to the spirit world.”
The Walks and Screenings are part of a national initiative led by the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund, which seeks to honour Chanie Wenjack’s memory by sparking conversation and creating awareness about the ongoing impacts of residential schools.
The Fund encourages all Canadians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to participate in the journey of reconciliation through education, understanding and community action.
The Secret Path, is a poignant animated film based on the album by Gord Downie and the graphic novel by Jeff Lemire. The story follows the moving story of young Chanie Wenjack and his untimely death.
The amphitheatre has undergone a transformation that is continuing.
