Family of man in residential school denied federal funds to repatriate remains because he died as an adult

Family members who have been fighting for years to repatriate the remains of their loved one who was put in a residential school in Thunder Bay, Ont., saythey've been denied federal funding because he died when he was an adult.

Percy Onabigon was six years old when he was taken from Long Lake #58 First Nation in northern Ontario to St. Joseph's Indian Residential School in 1944. He had epilepsy and was paralyzed on one side of his body.

From there, he was sent to a number of hospitals, including a mental health institution formerly known as the Orillia Asylum for Idiots, without his parents' knowledge or consent. In 1966, when he was 27, Percy died of tuberculosisand was buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Woodstock, Ont.,more than 1,200 kilometres from his home community.

Last year, Percy's niece, Claire Onabigon, applied for funding to repatriate Percy through the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund. However, she said she was told she didn't qualify because Percy died when he was an adult, not a child.

"We didn't hide children or adults who had challenges, whether they be intellectual or physical. We included them in every part of our lives," said Claire.

"You chose to put him in an institution, to take him from his family, to take him from everything that he knew, and you hid him until he diedsoit's your responsibility to bring him back," she continued, referring to the Canadian government.

WATCH | Bringing Percy home: The fight to reclaim a lost relative's remains

Bringing Percy home: The fight to reclaim a lost relatives remains

14 days ago

Duration 5:28

Decades after Percy Onabigon was taken from his Northern Ontario First Nation at age six and placed in a residential school, his family says the government refuses to pay the repatriation costs for his remains.

Claire said the federal government told the family to seek provincial funding, since Percy died at the Ontario Hospital in Woodstock. However, the provincedirected them to Anishinabek Nation, the organization that helped the family apply for federal funding in the first place.

Anishinabek Nationdetermined the cost of bringing Percy home at around $45,000, which would include sending relatives to Woodstock to be there for the unearthingand a community feast to celebrate Percy back in Long Lake #58.

"I think it wasn't so much that the [federal] government was scared of the money," said Frank Onabigon, Percy's nephew. "I think they still are afraid of accepting responsibility."

A promise to bring Percy home

Claire, Long Lake #58's director of education, completed her thesis on the impact of the residential school system on Long Lake #58 First Nation and neighbouring Ginoogaming First Nation. Through her research, she learned that four generations of her family were put in theresidential school system including Percy, her motherBertha, and uncles Kenny and George.

"My mother remembers in November they were out at recess, and the kids came running to her and told her that Percy had gone to the McKellar Hospital," recalled Claire. "My mum said that was the last time they ever saw him."

Growing up, Claire heard stories about how Percy played with his siblings and cousins and helped with the household chores, including folding diapers, before he was taken away.

"His family very much included him in everything," she said.

Bertha died knowing her brother was buried in Woodstockand with a promise from Claire that she would bring Percy home.

Failure to repatriate 'a breach of international law'

Percy's story was shared in the Sites of Truth, Sites of Conscience report released this summer by Kimberly Murray, the country's independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian residential schools.She is a member of Kahnesatake Mohawk Nation.

In Murray's view, Canada's refusal to pay for Percy's repatriation goes against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous PeoplesAct.

"Article 12 of that declaration says that Canada has to support the repatriation of Indigenous human remains, and so this fighting between different levels of government is a breach of international law," she said.

CBC News requested an interview with Patty Hajdu, minister of Indigenous Services Canada. An emailed statement was provided by Jacinthe Goulet, a spokesperson forCrown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

"The Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund was established to support Indigenous communities and survivors in efforts to identify children who did not return home from residential schools, as well as to locate burial sites associated with former residential schools. The terms and conditions for the program are available on the department's website," Goulet wrote.

When an application doesn't meet thefund's criteria, "officials [look]for other funding alternatives, including with Indigenous Services Canada and/or the relevant province or territory, and only communicates a denial of the applications when these alternative sources of funding have been exhausted."

In 2019, a proposed Indigenous Human Remains and Cultural Property Repatriation Act received unanimous support in the House of Commons. However, it never reached a second reading in the Senate, so nothing came of it.

Murray wants Canada to establish a national repatriation lawso families like the Onabigons can be supported in their healing journey.

"It will help in their process of grieving. It will help in the vicarious trauma that they have with the ambiguous loss of not knowing what happened to their child."

Calls for province, feds to take responsibility

As a residential school survivor and provincial representative, Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa saidit's important to talk openly about the residential school system's intergenerational impacton families and communities.

"This denial keeps us chained to our history without moving forward, without healing," Mamakwa said.

He saidrepatriating the remains of those who attended residential school is essential in Canada's path toward reconciliation.

"Both levels of government should be actually resourcing the repatriation of Percy. I would call on [Premier] Doug Ford, I would call on [Prime Minister] Justin Trudeau, to provide the resources to bring Percy Onabigon home," Mamakwa said. "Without that, they are part of the denialism of the history of the Indian residential schools."

CBC News reached out to Greg Rickford, Ontario's minister of Indigenous affairs, about the province's role in repatriating the remains of thosewho were sent toresidential schools, but did not receive a response by publication time.

Plans for celebration of life

Back in Long Lake #58, the Onabigons have a spot reserved in the community's cemetery for Percy, beside his sisters. The tombstones are etched with images of loons, the family's clan animal, and are surrounded by flowers and tokens of remembrance.

"When [Percy] died, there was no celebration of his life. There was no way to honour him the way we do here," Claire said.

"By bringing him home, he's finally back where he should have been all those years ago."

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24/7 through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.