St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School had a very special visitor on Sept. 30, which was the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day, which also coincides with Orange Shirt Day, honours the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.
St. Ben’s held an educational walk in honour of Chanie Wenjack.
Wenjack was a 12-year-old Ojibwe First Nations boy who died from hunger and exposure after running away from Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora in 1966.
His ordeal and his death brought attention to the treatment of children in the Canadian Indian Residential School System and following Wenjack's death, an inquest into the matter was ordered by the Government of Canada.
The late Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie also wrote a concept album based on Wenjack's escape, released in 2016.
On Sept. 30, St. Benedict hosted Harriet Visitor, who is Wenjack’s niece.
Students and staff displayed their support and awareness by signing an Orange Bear Paw and #EveryChildMatters on their way into class that resulted in a Sea of Orange in the main entrance hallway.
