John Curran
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 26, 2007

AKLAVIK - With residential school common experience settlement cheques all but in the mail, a regional money management workshop was held in Aklavik recently to help get people ready for the windfall.

"It went really well," said Knute Hansen, Aklavik band operations officer.

The band hosted the gathering, together with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, which he said drew 16 participants from several communities including Tuktoyaktuk, Ulukhaktok, Paulatuk, Inuvik, Fort McPherson and Sachs Harbour.

"We even had one person come from Norman Wells to take part," he said. "At 16 people, it was exactly the right size of group for this kind of workshop."

The two-day money management session was facilitated by well-known Northern communicator and entertainer George Tuccaro, who said the group covered a lot of ground.

"It was initially supposed to be a three-day event but that changed due to inclement weather," he said. "We lost a day and had to condense it."

The not-for-profit Canadian Executive Services Organization provided an instructor for the workshop.

"I think the instructor learned as much as the people taking part," he added. "He came here expecting that each community would have two or three banks, rather than just the Northern or Northmart."

Tuccaro said the session was a huge success because it gave people information they could use in the North.

"We learned about on-line banking, telephone banking and how the Northern is going to adjust to handle having so many large cheques to cash," he said.

Tuccaro added that Aklavik Chief Charlie Furlong deserves a lot of credit for making the event a reality.

"He really pushed to make this happen," he said. "It's still not too late for other communities and regions to host similar sessions."

Fort McPherson elder Frank Firth was one of those who made the trip and he was glad he did.

"I think it was very worthwhile," he said. "They talked about bank accounts and dealing with the Northern store."

He said the workshop was good because it wasn't a lecture.

"They didn't tell us what to do," he said. "They told us what choices we have for managing our money."

His nephew, Fort McPherson Chief Wilbert Firth said it is very important for Northerners - especially elders - to learn how to take care of their money before the settlement cheques arrive.

"There are so many scam artists who call on the phone now," he said. "It's really good to know these things."

The chief said his own cheque will come to about $40,000 and it's going straight into his savings account - at least initially.

"I'm going to do some work on my cabin to make it bigger with part of the money," he said.

While the payments will go a long way toward helping people through the healing process, he said residential schools have left deep scars on the North.

"For many of us, we were there from kindergarten to Grade 12," he said. "We were taken away from our parents, who would cry every day because we were gone.

"Meanwhile we were lonely as hell because we weren't with them out on the land."