Chanie Wenjack
Chanie Wenjack | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 19, 1954 Marten Falls First Nation, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | October 23, 1966 (aged 12) Farlane, Ontario, Canada |
| Cause of death | Hunger and exposure |
| Other names | Charlie |
| Known for | Escaping from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School |
Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack (January 19, 1954 – October 23, 1966) was an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) First Nations boy who in 1966 escaped from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario, Canada where he had boarded for three years. He died of hunger and exposure at Farlane, Ontario, while trying to walk 600 km (370 mi) back to his home, Ogoki Post on the Marten Falls Reserve.
His ordeal and his death brought attention to the mistreatment of children by the Canadian Indian residential school system: following Wenjack's death, an inquest into the matter was ordered by the Government of Canada.