Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack (January 19, 1954 – October 23, 1966) was an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) First Nations boy who ran away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School, where he boarded for three years in Kenora, Ontario, Canada.

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.

The school, which housed approximately 150 students at the time, was funded by the Canadian government and overseen by the Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church.

[1][2] On the morning of October 16, 1966, Wenjack and two of his friends, orphaned brothers Ralph and Jackie MacDonald, ran away from the Cecilia Jeffrey School, making it as far as Redditt, 31 km (19 mi) north of Kenora.

After four days with the Kellys, Wenjack left to follow the Canadian National Railway (CN) mainline, heading towards Ogoki Post, 600 km (370 mi) east and north from Kenora.

[2] The Wenjack affair along with many other incidents would bring legislative reforms and class action lawsuits as well as the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

The album, Secret Path, was released on October 18, 2016,[7][8] along with a concurrent graphic novel of Wenjack's story by novelist Jeff Lemire and an animated film which aired on CBC Television.

Published in October 2016, a novella by Canadian author Joseph Boyden focused on the suffering Wenjack endured and his state of mind during his ordeal.