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A new white picket fence stands in an abandoned community in a remote corner of Northern Labrador.
The fence marks the final resting place for 22 Inuit men and women. They've been on a long journey that began when their remains were exhumed from a cemetary in 1927 and left to languish in a Chicago vault.
The journey to right that wrong ended with a repatriation ceremony in late June when 22 boxes were reburied in the presence of 80 people from Nain and other parts of Labrador.
More than 80 years ago, archaeologist William Duncan Strong removed the bodies from their final resting place.
His interest was said to be scientific, but his research at the Chicago Field Museum didn't amount to much.
"We know that he knew it was wrong, and the institution knew it was wrong because they tried to cover it up and kept it secret, so they had a real awareness the community was unhappy," said Helen Robins, the museum's director of repatriations who attended the ceremony.
There are still more Inuit remains exhumed from different grave sites, waiting to be returned to Labrador. So there will be more reburials, and more memorials, correcting the misdeeds of the past.
This audio/photo feature combines words spoken by Nunatsiavut Culture Minister Johannes Lampe with photos taken by the CBC's Vik Adhopia.
