By Mark Squibb/November 11, 2021
Grade six students at Mobile Central High School raised almost $900 for the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, which was founded in 2016 to support efforts of reconciliation.
Students organized a Walk for Wenjack after learning about residential schools and acts of reconciliation in their social studies class.
Chanie Wenjack was a young Anishinaabe boy who died in 1966 while trying to return home after escaping from a residential school in Ontario.
The late Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie told Wenjack’s story through his 2016 solo album Secret Path, which was accompanied by a graphic novel, animated film, and teaching materials. All proceeds from both the book and album were donated to the University of Manitoba's National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. The fund grew out of this multi-media project.
The Mobile students who organized the walk created posters, made announcements over the school’s PA system, and kept track of fundraising, which totalled $880.
On October 27, the entire student body did a 1.5 km walk — a collective total of 600 kms, the distance Wenjack attempted to walk on his return journey home.
