"Charlie Wenjack", by Willie Dunn

Most Canadians are at least passingly familiar with the long horror story that was our Indian Residential Schools.  For those of you not familiar with the subject, I recommend reading the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's "A history of residential schools in Canada", which does a better job of summarizing the situation than I ever could.

Recently, while discussing the issue with a friend I wanted to show them the text to singer/songwriter Willie Dunn's song "Charlie Wenjack", which tells the tragically short story of the boy of the same name.  The lyrics could not easily be found online and so I thought I would reprint it here so more people would have a chance to appreciate it.

If there's a copyright holder out there who stumbles onto this and has an issue with it, please keep in mind this is entirely to help keep a small part of Dunn's work accessible; no one's making any money here.

Wawatay News has an audio file of Dunn (who died in October 2013) singing the song, so if you'd like to listen to it while you read, click here to open that link in a new window.

The following is reprinted verbatim from my copy of Ward Churchill's "Kill the Indian, Save the Man", which, if you have any interest in learning more about the residential schools, is an excellent resource:

Charlie Wenjack

(Who died in 1966, aged twelve, running away from an Indian residential school near Kenora, Ontario, trying to get back to his father and his people)

Walk on, little Charlie

Walk on through the snow.

Heading down the railway line,

Trying to make it home.

Well, he's made it forty miles,

Six hundred left to go.

It's a long old lonesome journey,

Shufflin' through the snow.

He's lonesome and he's hungry,

It's been a time since last he ate,

And as the night grows bolder,

He wonders at his fate.

For his legs are wracked with pain

As he staggers through the night.

And he sees through his troubled eyes,

That his hands are turning white.

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 out for love,

Just a lost little boy by the railroad track

Heading homeward bound.

Is that the great Wendigo

Come to look upon my face?

And are the skies exploding

Down the misty aisles of space?

Who's that coming down the track,

Walking up to me?
Her arms outstretched and waiting,
Waiting just for me.

Walk on, little Charlie,

Walk on through the snow.

Moving down the railway line,

Try to make it home.

And he's made it forty miles,

Six hundred left to go.

It's a long old lonesome journey,

Shufflin' through the snow.

 -  Willie Dunn