Yellowknife (Jun 23/06) - Family and identity is at the heart of importance for many aboriginal people.

When a family is broken, identity is broken and years of problems and healing could result.

"Family is the most important," William Apsimik, an Inuvialuit elder says without hesitation.

"Families have to come first - there are too many things happening. No time for family - no time for important things."

Apsimik, who is originally from Tuktoyaktuk, says that when he was young, country food was all they ate.

Their clothing came from caribou, which they caught, skinned and made together as a family.

"We spent time together, played games and worked together."

Marie Niziol was separated from her family when she was forced, by law, to go away to a residential school in Fort Smith.

Niziol says she missed her family and the strict environment of the school run by nuns was difficult to absorb.

"I was really young when I went. I was only six," Niziol says.

"They were very strict, but they didn't hit or anything. But we (her sister and herself) were just very lonely for our parents."

Niziol remembers they did a lot of praying and had to follow specific rules. She says that though the hurt of separation from family was strong, it made her stronger.

Kiera Kolson, a Dene girl who grew up in Yellowknife, says the biggest thing youth deal with is identity - they don't know who they are or where they came from.

"I myself am looking for my identity," Kolson says.

"It is a stability for me, and I don't have that option."

The lack of recognition of treaty rights and funding for self-government by the government of Canada has contributed to a lack of pride and identity, she says.

"My father is Gwich'in and my mother is T'sont'ini," Kolson says. "My mother's people are from Rocher River - but (shortly) after the treaty was signed with the government, they were disbanded."

She says the disbanding of the families occurred when the missionaries came.

"This is why I am looking for my identity," she says.

"I only know two words of Gwich'in - hello and goodbye."

She continues to search, saying that if youth could connect and know more about their past that it would give them an identity.

"We need to know where we came from to know where we are going."

Connecting to the older generation will give aboriginals more of an identity, she says.

The way to promote healing, Kolson says, is to get back to their traditions - go out on the land, and listen to the elder's wisdom.

Niziol agrees with Kolson and says the past can't be changed, but it is important for people to move back to healthier ways. "We need to go back to the land, back to family and community - we need to give to the future generations," she says.

For Apsimik, who is a Christian, the answer for aboriginal families is not just to reconnect. "My God is a jealous God about my people," he says. "He doesn't want them scattered all around.

"You've got to stand for yourself and who you are - study the word of God and listen to his spirit."