Chanie Wenjack was an Indigenous boy, who met a terrible fate after running away from a residential school in hopes of reuniting with his father. Chanie had died from exposure to the element and starvation while trying to walk 400 miles back to his home: an isolated reservation in North Ontario. Indian children commonly run away from the residential schools; consequently, they lose their toes, fingers or potential an arm or a leg to the cold. Children occasionally die, however, nobody seems to care predictively because they are Indian. On Sunday afternoon, October 16th, Chanie and his two friends decided to run away. They soon approached a walkway, leading them to a secret trail. Chanie found a map and although he didn’t know how to read English, …show more content…
it fed into his dream to find his father. Chanie wasn’t as strong as the other boys, but they were patient with him and they were able to make it to a proper resting location. “It had taken them more than eight hours.
They went to the house of a white man the MacDonald brother knew as “Mister Benson”. Benson took the exhausted boys in, gave them something to eat, and let them sleep that night on the floor.” (Adams, 1967, #3). Morning approached, and the boys set off in search for Charles Wells, Chanie’s friends uncle. Kelly knew that sending the boys off to school would have resulted in them running off and living in the bush, so he allowed them to stay: he believed this to be a mistake. Chanie’s best friend, Eddie Camereon, arrived at the cabin the following morning. Consequently, Chanie began to feel like a burden, as he was the only one there who was not family. Thursday came around and Kelly took his three nephews out on a canoe trip to Mud Lake, but there wasn’t room for Chanie. He decided to seize this opportunity and resume his search for his father. It is unknown if Charlie was unsure about leaving, or he wanted to say goodbye to his friends, but he walked to Mud Lake and met up with them at their destination. Chanie spent one final night with his friends, before he quietly parted ways and never saw them again. Chanie had to cross over half of northern Ontario, yet he only made it 12 miles before he
died. It is apparent that the Indigenous people are not being treated right, and that the residential schools are not the answer. Ed Beaudry, the section foreman states, “it’s a story that should be told. We tell this man he has to send his son to one of our schools, then we bring his boy back on a luggage car.” (Adams, #4). Chanie never had a chance of making it back alive: the only way there is by flight. His father, appalled by the treatment of his son, decided not to send his daughter to school. Correspondingly, there was an inquest held in Kenora Magistrate Court, where his friends timidly stood their ground. No Indians were to be found on the jury, nevertheless they came to the consensus that “the Indian education system causes tremendous emotional and adjustment problems.”.
... treats Piney as her own child, and is moved with the couples love. After ten days of living in the cabin, she died from starvation. She requested to Oakhurst to give the rations she has been saving to Piney. He felt all them were already hopeless, so he ordered Tom to hike to Poker Flat and try to get some help. After a couple of days, when the help arrived in the cabin, the found two women huddled together, frozen to death, and close by Oakhurst was found with a gun near him, a bullet right through his heart, and a suicide note saying “Beneath this tree, Lies the body of John Oakhurst, who struck a streak of bad luck on the twenty third of November, 1850, and handed in his checks on the seventh of December, 1850.” (Harte 458). This story shows that people can change their life when they want to, and that anyone can develop feeling despite whatever they did before.
To start with, McCandless was not someone who gave up. Despite others trying to scare him out of continuing with his journey into the Alaskan wilderness, nothing deterred McCandless. He anxiously awaited to experience life off the land. The people McCandless encountered on his way to Alaska often commented on his determination. Jim Gallien, a man who drove McCandless into the Alaska interior, described McCandless as “real gung-ho”. McCandless's attempt to undertake such a risky endeavour is something to admire in itself. To travel two years, mostly on foot, is certainly not an easy task. However, McCandless still persevered through the hardships he faced throughout his journey. McCandles...
On Chris’s journey to Alaska, he met a gentleman by the name of Ronald Franz, and is able to leave a lasting impression on him that Ron is not able to reciprocate to Chris. In the book, author Jon Krakauer states “McCandless made an indelible impression on a number of people during the course of his hegira, most of whom spent only a few days in his company, a weeks or two at most. Nobody, however, was affected more powerfully by his or her brief contact with the boy than Ronald Franz” (Krakauer 48). This quotes shows that although there time together is brief, Chris is able to leave an indelible impact on Ron. Nobody understands the life and journey to Alaska that Chris took more than Krakauer, and through his words, he acknowledges that Chris made the biggest impact on Ron. Ron viewed Chris almost like a son. Franz admitted that “even when he was sleeping, I was happy just knowing he was there…At one point Franz dared to make a special request of McCandless…Now that my own boy’s dead, I’m the end of the line. When I’m gone, my family will be finished, gone forever. So I asked Alex if I could adopt him, if he would be my grandson” (Krakauer 55). This quote shows how to Ron, at the time, Chris meant the world to him. It is very touching because Ron admits that he is getting older, and when he dies there will be nobody to carry on his...
... reader. Throughout the book, Charlie unfolds secrets and truths about the world and the society that he lives in; secrets and truths that cause him to grow up and transition into adulthood. He also makes a life changing decision and rebelled against was he thought was the right thing. This reflects his maturity and bravery throughout the journey he travels that summer. Charlie eyes suddenly become open to the injustice that the town of Corrigan demonstrates. He also comes to face the issue of racism; not only shown towards his best friend Jeffrey and the Lu family but to Jasper Jones as well. He realises the town of Corrigan is unwilling to accept outsiders. Charlie not only finds out things that summer about the people that surround him, but he also finds out who he is personally.
Pg 71 "why would anyone intending to 'live off the land for a few months, ' forget Boy Scout rule number one, be prepared. Why would any son cause his parents and family such permanent and perplexing pain?" There were many more people that thought Chris was a reckless idiot, but there were also many people that didn 't think Chris was a reckless idiot, and instead thought that Chris was very smart and brave for what Chris did. There were many people that Chris met during his travels and was able to truly touch their hearts and change their lives forever. Jim Gallien, Wayne Westerberg, Jon Krakauer, Walt McCandless, Billie McCandless, Carine McCandless, Charlie, Ronald Franz, and Jan Burres were some of them. Chris knew these people in life or met them during Chris travels. Chris definitely made an impact in all these people 's lives and these people probably wouldn 't call Chris a reckless idiot, but instead would call Chris intelligent and courageous. One of the people that Chris met during the travels that really stuck out was Ronald Franz. Franz was an eighty year old veteran who lived in Salton City,
Settlers maintained their crops and livestock, but while doing so the temperature drops past the freezing point. Children were attending school when the blizzard started to make its way toward the prairie. Unprepared with the proper clothing to at least have a fighting chance to stay warm during the frigid temperatures. These children were without over coats to keep warm, in one situation with two sisters Eda and Matilda, the author wrote “the older sister Eda took off her wrap to cover the younger sister.” (Laskin, 46) Times were very different then they are today, where heavier clothing are required and more available may not have been accessible to the settlers of that time. It was understood that so many children died with only a blanket of some sort, while walking against the heavy winds that was strong enough to rip it from the shoulders of the children. Many of these settlers died because of not dressing for the weather, or not having the resources to make or buy the
In Jon Krakauer’s non-fiction novel Into the Wild, the well-off, upper-middle-class, Chris McCandless disappears donating all of his savings to charity and hitchhiking to Alaska to live off the land, but 119 days later he is found having starved to death at the age of 24. Chris McCandless was and still is a very heavily discussed topic due to the mysteries his death. His “Great American Odyssey” was short, but lack of divulging his plan to anyone else left it in a shroud of guesswork and minimal evidence. But despite that, there is just enough evidence to show that Chris McCandless was for the most part, at fault for his own death despite good and bad luck along the way.
When it was time to go, he took only a penknife, a ball of cord, some flint and steel, forty dollars, and an ax. The flint and steel were for starting fires. He hitched a ride from a trucker to the town; Delhi, nearest the old family farm. He set out in May, set up a camp in a terrible storm, couldn’t get his fire going was tired, and hungry and realized in order to survive he would have to keep his wits about him.
The book begins as a mystery novel with a goal of finding the killer of the neighbor's dog, Wellington. The mystery of the dog is solved mid-way through the book, and the story shifts towards the Boone family. We learn through a series of events that Christopher has been lied to the past two years of his life. Christopher's father told him that his mother had died in the hospital. In reality she moved to London to start a new life because she was unable to handle her demanding child. With this discovery, Christopher's world of absolutes is turned upside-down and his faith in his father is destroyed. Christopher, a child that has never traveled alone going any further than his school, leaves his home in order to travel across the country to find his mother who is living in London.
Charley worked at the Linen Thread factory which is where they both worked at and met. Only after 4 months of dating Nannie’s father James gave approval to her marrying Charley. Charley’s mother would always be taking his attention rather than letting Nannie be with him which limited their activities with each other. They later had four daughters within 1923-1927. Nannie became a stressed out young mother and started to drink alcohol and smoke and later it became a heavy addiction. The marriage between them became a unhealthy relationship for both sides. Charley would often be gone from home and be gone for more than just one day leaving Nannie and the four daughters. In 1927 two of the middle daughters died from food poisoning. No one suspected that Nannie had to do anything with their deaths. Charley suspected that Nannie killed them and took his first born daughter Melvina and fled. He left the last child Florine behind with Nannie. Soon after Charley’s mother passed away and Nannie had to get a job in a cotton mill so she could support Florine and herself. Soon after in 1928 Charley came back and brought back Melvina so he could divorce Nannie and Nannie eventually got possession of the 2 girls. The reason of Charley leaving Nannie was because he was afraid of
The path from trauma to recovery is an experience that many deal with in hopes of finding tranquility. We understand trauma through two lenses: catastrophic and wound. According to American Psychiatric Association, catastrophic trauma refers to the site of an event “outside the range of usual human experience,” while wound trauma, also known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is “inflicted not upon the body but upon the mind” (Visvis 228). Fellow Cree men Xavier Bird and Elijah Whiskeyjack both experience distressing trauma through their role as snipers in the Great War. Xavier’s journey is hit with multiple obstacles that test his Native culture while trying to overcome the traumatic effects of the war as he tries to distance himself from the Eurocentric perspective. Joseph Boyden’s novel Three Day Road illustrates the importance of cultural beliefs in a world of ethnic differences as men face the hardship of war while surrounded by temptations and actions that cannot be undone which eventually leads some down a disoriented road of Native savagery.
At this time, Jake Hoover worked as a local hunter and was an experienced mountain man. When Hoover and Charlie met, they immediately realised they had an instant connection. They decided to share a cabin on the South Fork of Judith River. Hoover became Charlie's mentor and friend, he taught him about the Native American culture, survival in the West and much more. Eventually, Charlie started working for Hoover on his ranch. It was now 1882, and Charlie decided it was time to see his family again, so he packed some things and said goodbye to Hoover. When Charlie finally got back to Oak Tree he discovered that his family was quite happy with his new career as a rancher and they had convinced Charlie's cousin James Fulkerson to go back with him. This was initially a lot to for Charlie to take in, he now had someone he had to take care of along with himself. But, only 2 weeks after arriving in Billings, James died of “mountain fever” on May 27th, 1883. ("Charles Marion Russell - The Complete Works") Charlie Russell decided it was about time for him to retire. It could have been the recent death of his cousin that set off this sudden decision, but Charlie had been a cowboy for 11 years, and had completed his cowboy dream. Now he wanted to become a full time artist.("Charles M. Russell") It wasn't until the winter of 1886-1887 that Charlie’s art career truly started. When a friend from Oak Hill asked how the winter was in the wild wild west.Charlie responded with a small letter featuring a boney and starving bull being stalked by wolves. After seeing this letter, Charlie’s friend featured in in the window of his downtown store. Charlie Russell started to become a common name in Saint Louis, and people sent letters to him asking what the west was like hoping to get a letter in return. Charlie Russell decided he needed to set up shop. He moved into the back of Shelton’s Bar, Shelton being Charlie's close
McCandless is a very independent person, a person with high hopes, that has a lot of courage, and is a very brave man for going out by himself in the wild of Alaska of the Stampede Trail. Chris McCandless had a lot of courage on going to Alaska by himself at a young age. While Chris was at any city or anybody’s house, he was ready to go to Alaska. But while he was there, close to the end of his life, he left a note on the back of the bus saying, “S.O.S I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here i am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of god, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return by evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August?” Chris McCandless was by himself at the time. He shows his courage because while by himself, he went back out even though he was near death. He went out for food. Food for his health. That shows how much courage he had for his trip. Chris McCandless encouraged many young men to ...
Native American children were physically and sexually abused at a school they were forced to attend after being stripped from their homes in America’s attempt to eliminate Native peoples culture. Many children were caught running away, and many children never understood what home really meant. Poet Louise Erdich is part Native American and wrote the poem “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” to uncover the issues of self-identity and home by letting a student who suffered in these schools speak. The poem follows Native American kids that were forced to attend Indian boarding schools in the 19th and 20th centuries. By using imagery, allusion, and symbolism in “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways”, Louise Erdrich displays how repulsive Indian
I was alert sitting by the window facing the oak tree, the same oak tree where I had left trinkets “like Indian pennies, chewing gum, soap dolls, a rusty medal, a broken watch and a chain for Scout and Jem to find.” The pagent was over and I was expecting to see Scout and Jem by the tree anytime. I heard them running, Scout was having some problems as she was caged in her dress. I was startled to hear another set of unfamiliar, heavy footsteps as if someone was following Scout and Jem. I then heard the scuffling and kicking sound and Scout’s plea for help. I bolted out of the house, focused on reaching the kids in time. I noticed Scout was on the ground, trying to wiggle out of her dress, she seemed bruised. Jem was trying to free himself from the man, he was hurt and screaming. The man was relentless as he pounded him with one blow after another. Jem was hurt, his arm was dangling as if broken. Seeing, the man raise his hand with a shiny object in his hand, I bumped into him with all my strength. The man lost his balance, his foot hit the root of the tree and the knife fell from his hand as he hit the ground with a loud thump and a ear shattering