Secret Path is an oversize (12″ × 12″) wordless graphic novel by Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire. Lemire was the illustrator and Downie wrote the lyrics to the ten songs that accompanied the illustrations. The drawings tell the story of Chanie Wenjack, who in 1966 escaped the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario. He followed the train tracks in an attempt to reach his home in Ogoki Post, over 600 km away, yet died of exposure and starvation a week later.
The illustrations were in black, white and grey. Colour was used for the happier times when Chanie was still living at home with his family. This dichotomy sent a chill down my spine when I finished the book and had another look at the cover. The cover illustration is in colour, yet depicts the time Chanie was at the school. I can imagine that the publisher wanted a more attractive cover to promote the book, and black-and-white wouldn’t seem as marketable as a cover in full colour. Even then, however, the forested background seems only marginally green. Look at Chanie’s face. Why is he so worried? His face looks so scared.
Life at the school was not pleasant for Chanie. Chanie is always cowering, never smiling, and alert in a state of grey fear. Sexual abuse is insinuated yet not explicitly illustrated. He has happy memories back home fishing and being with his father. The sole word in the illustrated panels is “goodbye”, said as Chanie lies dying at the end of the train tracks, hallucinating in the grey as he stares into the distance, walking with his father in colour.