IGLULIK - About 50 Iglulik residents told their stories and spoke of their experience at residential schools when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission visited the community last week.

Iglulik has a unique set of circumstances because it was one of the last communities affected by residential schools in Canada as the advent for it in Iglulik started in the '50s, said commission chair Justice Murray Sinclair. As a result, he said Iglulik was a rare community where many of the people who spoke were parents who had

to send their children away.

"They told us about what it was like as parents, who had never been to residential schools, to send their children to the schools and the impact of having their lives altered by the fact their children were gone," he said. "That was a unique perspective."

Iglulik is one of 19 communities in all three territories and northern Quebec the commission is visiting as part of its northern tour, set to wrap up in late May.

Sinclair added among all the communities, Iglulik has probably one of the highest percentages of residential school survivors. The commission heard from almost 50 witnesses in a hall filled to capacity with about 100 to 125 people attending. He said the community told them the commission's visit was a start for them to talk about issues surrounding residential schools.

"A great deal of emotion was expressed," he said. "They were both enthusiastic for our attendance but also very filled with emotion about the things we were looking at.

"I think in a way, the commission has made a significant contribution to them but in reality, they have made a significant contribution to our work as well because the message they have is a very special message about the parents who were left behind."

The commission was established as a result of the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

The commission has been to Rankin Inlet and Chesterfield Inlet, and is scheduled to visit Iqaluit March 25, Cambridge Bay April 11, and Kugluktuk April 12 to 13.

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