The remains of baby Maxime Ottawa finally returned home on Monday, after more than 70 years of waiting. The procession carrying the small coffin containing his remains was scheduled to arrive in Manawan around noon, Noovo Info reported. The remains will then be laid in repose at the school gymnasium, where a wake will be held according to Atikamekw custom. Manawan residents will also have the opportunity to pay their respects on Tuesday during an evening of prayer and a ceremonial song of honour. Maxime was only six months old when he was taken alone to the hospital in La Tuque, Que., and then to Quebec City in 1954. He never returned to his community. A year ago, Noovo Info broke the news that the Quebec Superior Court had authorized his exhumation from a mass grave at Saint-Charles Cemetery in Quebec City. The infant was buried there alongside other Indigenous children whose families had also lost track of them. Maxime’s brother, Henri Ottawa, had always been concerned about the toddler’s disappearance. On his deathbed, he asked his daughter, Manon, to continue the search to find Maxime. For more than a decade, Manon Ottawa conducted research to find her uncle. This 12-year quest came to an end on Monday. The moccasin ceremony—a tradition in which a pair of moccasins is placed on the deceased to prepare them for their journey to the spirit world—will take place on Wednesday morning. The funeral will be held in the early afternoon. Maxime Ottawa is the fourth Indigenous child to be repatriated to his community for burial. This outcome was made possible in part by the passage of Bill 79, which requires Quebec institutions to provide families with documents—including death certificates—that help trace the whereabouts of Indigenous children who went missing after being admitted to the health-care system. With files from Noovo Info
