It is a day when the Onabigon family has spent decades: the repatriation of its uncle, Percy Onabigon, back to Like #58 First Nation.
Percy was taken from the community of northern Ontario as a small child and placed at the Indian residential school of St. Joseph in Thunder Bay. From there, it was sent to several hospitals and institutions, due to being epileptic and partially paralyzed.
His family never told where he was sent or what happened to him after a federal Indian agent withdrew him from St. Joseph.
After years of research and defense, Percy’s niece, Claire Onabigon, found it: in a cemetery in Woodstock, Ontario, more than 1,200 kilometers from home. He died at 27 years of tuberculosis at the Ontario hospital.
On Thursday, the 59th anniversary of the death of Percy, seven family members and a Pipas carrier traveled south of the city of Ontario to exhume their remains.
But it was not easy; The family called for provincial and federal governments to cover the cost of approximately $ 45,000.
Because Percy died as an adult, he was not a child, he was told to the family that the federal government would not provide coverage under the community support of the dismissal children of residential schools.
After CBC News shared the history of the ONABIGONS in SeptemberThe Ontario government offered to pay the bill. The money comes from the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and the Residential School Unit of the Economic Reconciliation of the First Nations.
“It’s not just about taking Percy home, it’s about repatriating a ancestor, honoring the lives of all those affected by the residential school system and advancing along with respect, dignity and justice,” said Ministry’s spokesman Meaghan Evans, CBC News in an email.
However, for the Onabigones, it was not money; It was the recognition that Percy should never have been taken first.
Decades after Percy Onabigon was taken from his first nation in northern Ontario at age six and placed in a residential school, his family says that the government refuses to pay the repatriation costs for its remains.
“This has gone far beyond our family and how we feel about it,” Claire said. “[It has] He also opened the eyes and ears of other people to what happened to the indigenous peoples of Canada, especially through the residential school system. “
‘Imagine how many percens more there are’
Before the exhumation began, the family celebrated a ceremony to honor Percy, who never had to do when he died. Around two dozen people were there, including bosses, mental health workers, members of the Provincial Police of Ontario and other people who helped the repatriation occur.
Simultaneously, a sacred fire and a ceremony in Like #58 were held.
The Onabigons also gave a medallion to Claire Sault, head of Mississaugas of the first credit nation, to maintain the remains of Percy safe in their traditional territory for so long.
“Imagine how many perceives there are,” said Sault. “[The family’s] The 20 -year trip is extraordinary. His perseverance to get the help they needed and, most importantly, keep their memory alive. “
Marcus Ryan, the director of the Oxford County, which includes Woodstock, says that knowing the Onabigons has been impressive.
“It is a real truth that there is a person in a tomb here that was involuntarily taken from his community, from his nation, and sent to another part of the province without anyone’s apparent permission,” said Ryan.
“There is a real real opportunity for significant truth and significant reconciliation, and we have to take advantage of each of those opportunities.”
‘I never want to bring them home like this’
Truth and reconciliation are loaded words for Judy Desmoulin, Chief of Like #58 First Nation.
“I’m not sure that our country really knows what it really means,” he said. “This situation today is proof of our truth; Percy has provided that window of letting our truth know.”
What worries him is that the children of the first nations are still being taken from their families through the child welfare system, something that wants to see the change.
“We are going through a really complex process by finding our children, taking them home, and I never want to take them home like that,” he said while pointing Percy’s tomb. “It is definitely not over.”
Anna Betty Achneepineskum is a great deputy chief of the Nishnawbe Aski nation, which represents 49 first nations in treaties 9 and 5. Echoes the Desmoulin concerns.
“We need to have the appropriate resources and the ability to ensure that our children do not have to leave home, either for school or through the child welfare system,” said Achneepineskum.
“We need to have resources to help our families when they look, and when they want to take their loved one home.”
Ask for more federal support
The Anishinabek nation, which represents 39 first nations in Ontario, played a key role in the province’s lawyer to help support the UNABGONS. The great cute boss Debassige says that now it is time for the federal government to also try.
“Canada, in our opinion, has an ethical, moral and fiduciary obligation to help repatriate our ancestors who were taken to residential schools without the consent of their parents,” said Debassige.
In the campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney committed to implement The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Law of Indigenous Peoples, which includes support for indigenous peoples to repatriate human remains.
But Debassige wants to see a firm commitment to implement the action elements in Kimberly Murray’s final report, published last fall.
Murray served as a special independent interlocutor of Canada for missing children and unmarked tombs and burial sites associated with Indian residential schools.
Its report describes 42 obligations for governments, churches and other institutions to follow, to implement a framework of repairs led by indigenous for truth, responsibility, justice and reconciliation.
Murray helped Claire investigate what happened to Percy, after having recently discovered that he was in fact eight, not six, when he was taken to the residential school, which speaks of “why it is so important that all files are accessible to communities,” he said.
“My message for the new prime minister is to implement the obligations … to continue supporting communities and families and survivors who are looking for missing and missing children, and properly finance these investigations that communities are doing at this time.”
The remains of Percy are sent to the Forensic Pathology Service of Ontario in Toronto, where an autopsy and DNA analysis will be performed, although a forensic anthropologist who helped with the exhumation says that an autopsy has already been carried out.
The family says they were never told this, and they have not been able to track any documentation.
The family plans Rebury Percy on Like Lake #58 this summer, along with their relatives. By sharing their story, they expect others to receive the same support to take their loved ones home.
“With all the support we had, it was possible. So, if we can do it, other families can also do it,” said Claire’s brother, John O’Nabigon.
“Seeing all the support of all the others, that people saw our cause for once and wanted to help and recognized that it was important,” said Riley Labelle, Claire Onabigon’s 15 -year -old granddaughter.
“Because it is important, because it is our family, and only if it were someone else’s family, you would want to be at home.”
A line of crisis of the Indian National Residential School has been established has been established to provide support to former students already affected. People can access emotional services and crisis reference by calling the national crisis line 24 hours: 1-866-925-4419.
Mental health advice and crisis support are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness direct line in 1-855-242-3310 or per chat online at www.hopforwellness.ca.
