M’CHIGEENG FIRST NATION—While the repatriation of the remains of Percy Onabigon back to Long Lake #58 First Nation from his gravesite in Woodstock, Ontario is an example of what Anishinabek families have had to endure, there are still far too many Anishinabek persons whose families have no idea where their loved ones are buried, having passed away after being taken away from their families and placed in an Indian Residential School.
“Many of our Anishinabek children’s remains are still unknown, after they had been taken away from their families and taken to a residential school,” stated Linda Debassige, Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation at the ‘Understanding Our Past to Move Forward in a Good Way Manitoulin Island Residential School Survivor Gathering,’ held last week in M’Chigeeng First Nation.
“This is the type of work that we have helped support, to support the children who had been taken to residential schools,” said Grand Council Chief Debassige. The Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations in Ontario, played a key role in advocating the province to help support the Onabigon family. “Percy was taken from his family and community. His family wasn’t told where he had been sent or what became of him after he was removed from St. Joseph’s Indian Residential School in Thunder Bay by a federal Indian agent.”
CBC News reported Percy Onabigon was taken from his home 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 because of being epileptic and partially paralyzed. After years of research and advocacy, Percy’s niece, Claire Onabigon, found him in a cemetery in Woodstock, Ontario, more than 1,200 kilometres from home. He died at age 27 of tuberculosis at an Ontario hospital. On May 1, the 59th anniversary of his 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 Onabigon’s story in September, the Ontario government offered to foot the bill.
Grand Council Chief Debassige told CBC News at the time that the federal government needs to step up too. “Canada, in our view, has an ethical, moral, and fiduciary obligation to help repatriate our ancestors who were taken to residential schools without the consent of their parents.”
On the federal election campaign trail, Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which includes support for Indigenous people to repatriate human remains.
But Grand Council Chief Debassige wants to see a firm commitment to implement the action items in Kimberly Murray’s final report, released last fall. Ms. Murray served as Canada’s independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian Residential Schools. Her report outlines 42 obligations for governments, churches and other institutions to follow, in order to implement an Indigenous-led Reparations Framework for Truth, Accountability, Justice, and Reconciliation, CBC News reported.
Grand Chief Debassige acknowledged all those elders and residential school survivors in the room, along with other individuals and groups in attendance that continue to support Anishinabek people. “Thanks to Kelsey Anger (reconciliation manager, executive services) of the Anishinabek Nation, representing 39 First Nation communities for bringing this gathering together.”
“I am humble and proud to be part of the circle of survivors, and to hearing stories of the residential school survivors,” said Grand Council Chief Debassige. “I can remember as a little girl hearing the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. When I think of those healing and through stories they tell of what they had to endure. Many of the children who attended these schools remains are still not known. The final report published by Ms. Murry last October outlines the steps the government needs to follow, to allow families and communities to help heal.”
“With healing comes forgiveness,” said Grand Council Chief Debassige. “The survivors stories need to be allowed to be told.”
Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict said, “I was elected about nine months ago. I’m a Mohawk from Akwesasne. The residential school file is extremely important to myself and all the chiefs (Chiefs of Ontario). We need to continue efforts to make sure the government is accountable, and that efforts toward reconciliation and healing are allowed to take place.”
“At the residential schools, they tried to take away our language and culture,” said Regional Chief Benedict. “Things were extremely challenging and tough for all those who attended these schools. We rely on our elders to continue to be able to bring those stories forward, and work toward maintaining our language and culture. Sovereignty is very important to me and our chiefs. We will continue to advocate for the financial support needed and for the government to live up its responsibilities to all those families, communities and those who are survivors and those who passed on.”
Regional Chief Benedict told The Expositor later in the day, “we have faced more challenges the past couple of months, with the government having made funding policy changes involving support for our search efforts of the gravesites at these residential schools, and the recent federal election impeded our continued advocacy efforts. But we won’t let up, the governments have responsibilities they need to live up to.”
Ross Armstrong, interim chief of M’Chigeeng First Nation explained his mother had been taken away to a residential school as a child, having died several years ago. “Even when she was in residential school she kept our language in her head, and taught it to myself when I was growing up. She told us of horrible stories of how students were treated in residential schools.”
“I am proud today that I can speak our language, and cultures,” said interim chief Armstrong. “Without our language and culture, we would no longer be Anishinabek people. It is not easy being Anishinabek in today’s world, but it is important to be proud of being Anishinabek. Teach our young people our language and the stories about the residential schools.”
Jeff Skye, chief of police of Anishinabek Police Services explained his late mother was a student in a residential school. “She was always proud of I and my two brothers and sister and in my case especially when I became a police chief. She always said, ‘make sure you finish school.’
“As the (APS) we continue to advocate governments to provide for better policing in our communities,” said Chief of Police Skye. “We have had some advancements, with additional officers being hired, but things are still tough, and much more must be done. Since the early 1990s there has been no government investment in keeping our police officers and communities safe. After 33 years we are finally seeing some government investments to keep our communities safe.”
Debbie Francis, executive director of Noojmowin Teg Health Services, a partner in hosting the gathering, acknowledged all the elders and survivors, those organizations with tables set up at the gathering, the helpers and community member volunteers. She introduced the Noojmowin team that she works with and explained the work they have done to help those survivors of residential school, tell their stories and encouraging the Anishinabek language and culture to help in the healing process.
“I am humbled and honoured to be here today,” said Hillary Trudeau of the NISOONAG Partnership focusing on the Spanish Indian Residential School site. “We initiated this project in 2021, and still have lots of work to be done. Part of the reason we are here today is to make connections with more survivors of the residential school that we have not connected with yet. We want everyone know here today from all the communities on the Island and in the area that we have many photographs, residential school registration records and data available to help find or add to, the records of family members or someone that you know that went to the residential school to connect to.
Lezah Flynn, who works in data entry for NISOONAG Partnership explained, “this project, ‘Bringing Home Our Children,’ includes the Spanish Indian Residential School site and is an elder based project involving Serpent River, Sagamok and Mississagi First Nations.”
“So far, we have collected over 15,000 records, student registration data, thousands of photographs and quarterlies and diaries from priests and nurses of the schools (both boys’ and girls’ schools separately). We have connected with 3,856 students so far.” She noted the Spanish Residential School had originally started in Wikwemikong Unceded Territory, until it burned down and moved to Spanish. It was the larges residential school in Ontario with separate girls, and boys school.
“There were a lot of students that attended the school from Manitoulin Island First Nations that we have listed in our directory and we are hoping more come forward,” said Ms. Flynn. “A total of 53 communities were affected by the school,” she said, noting that NISOONAG, “Are hoping to hold a ground search of the school property grounds this summer.”
“We would like more residential school survivors to come forward to be interviewed for the information gathering we are doing,” said Ms. Flynn. “And if a family requests records on someone they know attended the residential school we can hopefully help find all the records we have on their family member.”
“We have extensive student attendance records,” said Ms. Flynn. “We’re looking to be able to connect with more survivors of the residential schools to do interviews, and have language translators on hand to help us.”
“It is gut wrenching to hear the stories we hear and to look at the records and the age of some of the students who were taking from their communities and taken to residential school,” said Ms. Flynn who noted her grandfather had been a student at the Spanish Indian Residential School.
