After 8 decades, Alma Beaulieu, who died at an N.W.T. residential school, is home

Delphine Beaulieu can still hear her father singing and playing the violin as she, her little sister Alma, and their older sister, Dot, dance around the room. It’s the only memory Delphine has of Alma.

Alma Beaulieu was five years old when she died in 1944 while attending St. Joseph’s Residential School in Fort Resolution, N.W.T.

For decades, Delphine has held onto her sister's memory, and the promise she made to her mother to bring Alma home one day.

Last week, that promise was fulfilled when Alma was finally laid to rest beside her mother in Fort Smith.

“I’m just so happy,” Dephine said. “I know my mom is looking down from heaven. She’s probably smiling.”

There was no explanation given to the family about Alma's death, she just never came home. Their mother, Mary Louise, only learned of what happened after another child returned from Fort Resolution with the news.

“What I do remember is my mom crying, crying for days and days,” Delphine recalled. “She never did get over it. She spoke to us about it quite often.”

Decades later, a photo sent to Delphine’s son showing unmarked graves found at the Fort Resolution cemetery brought back memories of her mother's grief and the promise Delphine had made to find her sister.

She began working with Deninu Kųę́ First Nation, along with forensic specialists and researchers from across the country, to locate Alma’s remains. When the forensic team used DNA to confirm that Alma’s remains had been found, Delphine said she was overwhelmed with relief.

“I was so happy,” she said. “I never thought that that was a possibility at all.”

The process to bring Alma's remains home then took more than two more years, complicated by outdated laws and confusion over whether the children’s graves were considered archaeological sites. Government papers describing the remains as “artifacts” added to the frustration for many people.

Speaking at the Legislative Assembly last week, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon said Delphine’s determination has set a precedent for other families across the North.

He said Alma’s return restores a fundamental human right long denied to Indigenous communities, for families to bring their loved ones home and lay them to rest according to their own traditions.

“Not all families will want to repatriate the remains of their loved ones,” he said. “But the important thing is that they have [been] provided with that choice," Edjericon said.