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Thirty seven years after he was put up for adoption, Aaron MacDevitt, top right, was reunited with his four siblings in Inuvik. Shown here is MacDevitt's niece Sheila Hendrick, right, Sheldon Hendrick, Donny Hendrick, Delores Harley, and Shelly Gordon. - Brodie Thomas/NNSL photo

INUVIK - An Inuvik family was reunited with a long-lost brother last week after 37 years apart.

Shelly Gordon, Delores Harley, and Sheldon and Donny Hendrick gathered at the Inuvik Airport Terminal on Wednesday morning to wait for the Canadian North flight to arrive.

The four siblings were waiting to meet their brother, Aaron MacDevitt, who had been put up for adoption at 18 months.

Shelly Gordon said they had no idea that they even had an older brother until about 10 years ago when one of their aunts told them. She said his name had been Stanley when he was adopted.

The family left the knowledge alone until five years later, when Gordon noticed an interesting ad in the back pages of a magazine.

"He ran an ad in a Northern magazine looking for information on his family," she said. She sent him an email with information about their brother. The dates seemed to match up.

"This year we got an e-mail back from him," said Gordon. He had done some research and was convinced that he was their brother.

As soon as MacDevitt stepped off the plane, his sisters recognized him.

They said they didn't know much about him because he was waiting to share all his stories in person.

Aaron MacDevitt said he had been adopted by a Montreal family when he was one-and-a-half years old. He said he had a normal life growing up in the suburbs of Montreal. He has two brothers and two sisters in his adopted family. His parents told him he was adopted.

"I always knew where I came from although I didn't speak the language," he said. He is hoping now to reconnect with his cultural roots while in Inuvik.

He is also filming his search for his family.

"Some of the footage will be used for a TV show on APTN," said MacDevitt. He has been taking part in a show that follows eight aboriginal people living in Canadian cities.

After a tearful reunion and a quick group photo, the five siblings gathered MacDevitt's bags and headed home to catch up on 37 lost years.