N.W.T. woman searching for long lost nephews in time for their grandfather's funeral
Joe Black always hoped he would be able to have contact with his grandchildren again, after they were taken from their mother by social services a decade ago.
But the elder from Gameti, N.W.T., died last week.
Now his daughter, Louisa Black, is trying to track down her nephews in time for their grandfather's funeral, which is being held in the community on Tuesday.
"[Until] the end of his days, he's been asking, wondering if the grandkids are doing well, and his wish was to see them," said Louisa.
The boys are nearly 20 years old now, but Black said she has no way to reach them.
She said she's asked the Tlicho Community Services Agency to help her tell the children their grandfather has died, but she isn't having much luck.
"[They] kept saying, for medical, for safety reasons, for confidentiality, we can't do that," Black said.
The boys' mother, Alice Black, who was Louisa's sister, was beaten to death in the family home by her common-law partner in 2009.
Before she died, Alice was living and raising her kids in her father's home, said Louisa Black, adding her dad helped raise the children.
Two of Alice's children were put in foster care with their grandparents in Gameti, Louisa said.
The others were taken out of the community, including two boys who were put in foster care in the South in 1998.
Black said she's only seen those nephews twice since then — once in 2012 and another time, entirely by accident, about two years ago.
"I ran into them at the mall in Saskatchewan … by fate or something," Black said. "And they recognized me right away, after how many years."
She said her nephews called out to her.
"At that moment, we embraced each other … like a long last family," she said. "They were in tears, and I was in tears. And they told me, 'You're alive.'"
Black said the boys had no idea how their family members were doing, or if they were alive, and they wanted to know about their grandparents.
"They asked about my dad's big red house, where they've been raised. They asked about the green house where I was living," said Black. "They remember all these little details of their grandparents' place."
Black stressed that she isn't asking for her nephews to come live in Gameti; she simply wants them to have a chance to attend the funeral.
"They have a right to know that their grandfather passed away," she said.
No way to contact nephews
Black said social services closed off communications between the children and the family years ago. But her sister and parents always wondered if they would see the children again.
She said she wishes she could communicate with them, to at least tell them of their grandfather's death.
"I have no way of getting a hold of them," she said.
"All I'm asking for now is for them to attend the funeral, if it's possible."
CBC News contacted the Tlicho Community Services Authority on July 13. The N.W.T. Health and Social Services Department responded later that day saying it's looking into CBC's questions.
With files from Joanne Stassen