Inuvik (July 17/06) - Fort Good Hope's Harold Cook has a lot of memories of Grollier Hall and life with his abuser.

As a victim of physical and sexual abuse, he recalls feeling small and afraid. Later, however, he got a chance many might envy.

Ruth Jane Wright, who attended Stringer Hall residential school, signs up to be interviewed for the Legacy of Hope project during a reunion of residential school survivors in Inuvik last week. - Philippe Morin/NNSL photo

While working as a prison guard at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre, he came across his former abuser who happened to be an inmate. After confronting him, roughing him up and continually threatening him, Cook said he created so much fear, his abuser literally urinated in his pants.

It was a reversal of fortunes which Cook felt was only fair. The small child grown strong with anger, and the abuser now withered and helpless with old age.

But years later, after his abuser died in prison, Cook still felt incomplete.

"You carry the pain, the shame, the negative impacts," he said of the abuse. "And the more you carry it, the more you pass it on negatively in your life."

As dark as Cook's tale is, it was just one of many told as hundreds of people attended a reunion of the Beaufort-Delta Residential School Society.

Approximately 200 participants from around the NWT and parts of Nunavut travelled to Inuvik to take part in the reunion, held at Sir Alexander Mackenzie school.

Stories of abuse, lost culture, alcoholism, drug abuse and broken families were recounted.

Tsiigehtchic's Archie Norbert, 60, delivered a speech titled, "There is a light at the end of the tunnel."

A former residential school student with a degree in drug and alcohol counselling, Norbert said it is important for aboriginal people to discuss their history with the schools.

"It's about time something like this happened," he said.

The event included an effort to preserve the history of survivors called Legacy of Hope; elders' stories were recorded to ensure their testimony would live on for future generations.

Angie Bruce, executive director of the group making the recordings, said testimonies would be compiled into a book and DVD titled, Our Stories... Our Strengths, which will be available in schools and libraries across Canada.

Most elders chose to take part and Bruce said the interviews were very revealing and personal.

"Because it's one-on-one and the people doing the interviews are certified counsellors, we find they open up more than they would in a large gathering," she said.

Mark Spence-Vinge made the trip from Baker Lake and was among the counsellors doing interviews.

While he usually works with the Mianiqsijit Society, which offers family counselling services in Nunavut, he offered his services to the Legacy of Hope Foundation.

"I feel it's important," he said. "It's helped us reach many people who otherwise would not be reached."

Ruth Jane Wright, a former residential school student from Inuvik, agreed to sign on for the project.

"It gives me a chance to tell kids what I went through," he said. "It helps people learn from experience, and it's important."

While the stories are perhaps the most memorable aspect of the reunion, it featured all aspects of aboriginal culture including traditional music from the Fort Good Hope Drummers.

Cook said music was a way to reclaim his aboriginal culture, which he said was stolen by residential schools. "I was taught to pray with a rosary, but today I pray with the drum," he said.

It's something he says helps motivate him to continue the "path of healing," which he says he has walked since those dark days.

In the end, it has been his participation in cultural activities and his love for his granddaughters that helped him silence the ghosts of his past - not his chance to exact revenge.