Decades after his death, family repatriates First Nation man's remains 1,200 km back home

It's a day the Onabigon family has spent decades waiting for: the repatriation of their uncle, Percy Onabigon, back to Long Lake #58 First Nation.

Percy was taken from the northern Ontario community as a young child and put into St. Joseph's Indian Residential School in Thunder Bay. From there, he was sent to a number of hospitals and institutions, on account of being epileptic and partially paralyzed.

His family was never told where he was sent or what became of him after he was removed from St. Joseph's by a federal Indian agent.

After years of research and advocacy, Percy's niece, Claire Onabigon, found him: in a cemetery in Woodstock, Ont., more than 1,200 kilometres from home. He died at age 27 of tuberculosis at the Ontario Hospital.

On Thursday — the 59th anniversary of Percy's death — seven family members and a pipe carrier travelled to the southern Ontario city to exhume his remains.

But it wasn't easy; the family appealed to both the provincial and federal governments to cover the roughly $45,000 cost.

Because Percy died as an adult, not a child, the family was told the federal government would not provide coverage under the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund.

After CBC News shared the Onabigons' story in September, the Ontario government offered to foot the bill. The money comes from the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation's Residential School Unit.

"This is not just about bringing Percy home — it is about repatriating an Ancestor, honouring the lives of all those affected by the Residential School system, and moving forward together with respect, dignity, and justice," ministry spokesperson Meaghan Evans told CBC News in an email.

For the Onabigons, though, it wasn't about the money; it was about the acknowledgement that Percy should never have been taken in the first place. 

"This has gone way beyond just our family and how we feel about it," said Claire. "[It has] also opened up other people's eyes and ears to what's happened to the Indigenous people of Canada, especially through the residential school system."

Before the exhumation began, the family held a ceremony to honour Percy, which they never got to do when he died. About two dozen people were there, including chiefs, mental health workers, members of the Ontario Provincial Police and others who helped make the repatriation happen.

Simultaneously, a sacred fire and ceremony were held in Long Lake #58.

The Onabigons also gifted a medallion to Claire Sault, chief of Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, for keeping Percy's remains safe in her traditional territory for so long.