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alongapath 's review for:
Wenjack
by Joseph Boyden
This tiny 97 page novella packs in an enormous amount of knowledge. Boyden's retelling of Chanie Wenjack's real escape from an Indian Residential School in Ontario in 1966 is filled with Indigenous teachings. Told through the eyes of the animal spirits who watch Chanie as he makes his way off the school grounds, into the thick bush and eventually onto the railroad tracks, we learn the ways of the natural creatures on this unforgiving land as they watch his doomed attempt to find home and freedom. After being forcibly removed from his home three years earlier, twelve year old Chanie tries to remember his Anishinaabe language and his father's teachings about the land but too much has been lost at the school - language, innocence, trust. Boyden's gifted prose speaks with the voice of a child but with the wisdom of the Manitou. I found that I was ever hopeful of Chanie's return to home despite knowing the outcome of this tragic story.
This is a beautifully told, beautifully illustrated, beautiful tribute to Chanie whose story needs to be heard over and over again until we truly understand.
This is a beautifully told, beautifully illustrated, beautiful tribute to Chanie whose story needs to be heard over and over again until we truly understand.