Eulogy for a Truant, 1966 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Joanne Bealy   

        O Canada our home and native land,

the country sang, still celebrating its brand new shiny red maple leaf flag,
still dancing in the streets, long past discord, well beyond fractious debate
over how we came to be.
        True patriot love in all thy son's command

Except there along the tracks in the woods north of Kenora, lay little Charlie Wenjack,
thin cotton clothing soaked, frozen, stuck to his skin, nothing but a screw top glass jar
in his pocket, keeping dry six wooden matches.

        With glowing hearts we see thee rise

Nobody knew Cecilia Jeffrey but there she was, had a school named after her:
Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School, 400 miles south of Charlie's home.
They'd taken him, his siblings and most of his friends, weren't about to let him go.

        the true north strong and free

Charlie couldn't practice his religion anymore, wasn't allowed to speak his language;
so he whispered to his brother, sang to him in the night; paid later with beatings
and ridicule; he was tired of being their heathen, he was tired of not being free.

        O Canada we stand on guard for thee

Charlie Wenjack was 12 years old when he ran. 400 miles nothing but a number.
Charlie Wenjack died alone and cold,
                        hungry,
                        probably scared,
                        just trying to get home.
        O Canada, glorious and free.
        O Canada, with breaking hearts we see thee.
        Oh.
        Canada.
        Oh.
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Joanne Bealy
About the author:
Joanne Bealy grew up in Montreal and currently lives in British Columbia. Her essays on film and other cultural critiques have appeared most recently in Bright Lights Film Journal and in the anthologies Unveiling AIDS and Salt in our Blood. Her poetry has appeared in various journals in North America. A chapbook of her poetry, Crooked Love, was published in 1999, and a collection of poems, At the Mercy of Gravity, was published in 2003.
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