Maria Canton
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Nov 22/99) - The long and painful history of residential school abuse in the North has left a wake of human wreckage to suffer emotionally and physically.

Thousands of young students suffered sexual and physical abuse at the hands of those they were told to trust, let teach and guide them.

Over the years, the legacy of abuse has manifested itself in many ways -- many of the abused growing up to be abusers and addicts themselves, as a direct result of their schooling.

"Although many years have passed, the deep wounds of physical and sexual abuse remain unhealed and they continue to cause new abuses today," said George Erasmus, chair of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

Erasmus was speaking at the launch of the $350-million Aboriginal Healing Foundation fund in January of 1998. The money is the federal government's way of apologizing for the inter-generational effects of abuse residential schools have created.

The fund's mission is to encourage and support aboriginal people in building and reinforcing sustainable healing processes.

Since January of 1998, 11 Nunavut healing program proposals have been submitted to the foundation.

Only one, in Cape Dorset, has been accepted, nine have been rejected and one is pending.

"A person has to have the courage to believe they are going to change," said Kristiina Alariaq, a volunteer member with the Cape Dorset community healing team and a community justice specialist.

"When individuals heal, communities heal and create better communication. These beliefs are in place in Inuit culture and many of them are the value and core of traditional Inuit ways."

Alariaq played a role in preparing Nunavut's only proposal that has received funding from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation to date.

The proposal, made with the aid of the hamlet office, states "many (residential school) victims have become offenders and end up in the correctional institutions...toxic shame is inter-generational."

With federal dollars, Cape Dorset has been given the green light to continue to heal community members and give them hope through uplifting and affirming guidance.

For the communities who didn't have their proposals accepted, however, they must return to the drawing board, redraft their "unacceptable" proposals and perhaps wait upwards of another year to receive word on funding.

"Everyday the wounds get deeper and deeper. We don't have months to wait, we don't even have days to wait," said Beverly Illuaq, co-ordinator at the Ilisaqsivik Family Resource Centre in Clyde River.

"They said the quality of our proposal was not good enough. That's a prescriptive idea that got native people into the desperate situation they are in."

The foundation provides detailed reviews of denied applications, allowing an organization to try again for funding.

"After the review process they say we will have to wait another eight to ten months to hear back. Given the incredible crisis of residential school abuse, I don't see how we can wait that long," said Illuaq.

At the end of this month the Aboriginal Healing Foundation will be releasing a new program handbook and February 2000 will mark the second call for proposals.

As of Oct. 31 of this year, 87 proposals had been accepted countrywide, one of which was in Nunavut.