Cara Loverock
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 24, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - First Nations groups in the NWT are heralding the Supreme Court's decision on the Residential School Agreement as a victory and cause for celebration.

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus shows reporters the Common Experience Payment form needed to claim money from the Indian Residential Schools Agreement - Cara Loverock/NNSL photo

During a press conference to discuss details of the agreement Dene National Chief, Bill Erasmus, expressed his satisfaction.

"Today is very significant. It's a day for celebration. First Nations people have won a victory by having this agreement in place and functioning," said Erasmus.

Many First Nations people suffered abuse, neglect and shame at the schools, which attempted to remove natives from their culture. This agreement is for some, a step toward healing, he said.

The court's decision is seen as a vindication for those who suffered under the residential school system. Compensation aside, victims are pleased the agreement acknowledges the wrongs committed by the government and school staff.

Gerald Antoine, a Dene announcer for CKLB radio in Yellowknife, attended residential schools for a total of eight years in Fort Simpson and Yellowknife.

"This whole thing on residential schools has been exposed. It's finally come out. One thing they haven't really mentioned is that it was planned," says Antoine, of why government instituted the residential schools. "The institution was an instrument to try to take away our identity and our culture, but the good thing today is it's finally been exposed."

Wednesday was the first day First Nations people were able to take advantage of the Indian Residential School Agreement.

After years of discussions, court cases and negotiations between the Assembly of First Nations and the Federal Government, the agreement includes more than a billion dollars of compensation. It is estimated that $1.9 billion will be distributed nationwide and $170 million of that will be paid out to residents in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon.

In Yellowknife and four other communities, including Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Inuvik, individuals can get forms and assistance in filling them out.

In Yellowknife those seeking to file claims can go to the Greenstone building, located at 5101 50th Avenue. The Dene Nation will also be helping individuals at their headquarters to fill out forms.

In other communities forms will be made available at band offices as well as hamlet offices in each area.

In Hay River forms can be dropped off at 41 Capital Drive, suite 204; in Fort Smith at 136 McDougal road; in Inuvik at 85 Kingmingya Road and at the federal building at 9606 100 Street.

There will not be translation into other native languages at the Yellowknife office, and applicants are encouraged to bring someone who may be able to translate, if available. Identification is required, with the name used during the time that they attended the residential school.

Additionally, there will be outreach people made available in more remote communities to help individuals file claims.

Claims may also be made on behalf of deceased relatives, however those individuals must have been alive when the agreement came into effect in May, 2005.

Direct deposit will also be made available and those wishing to take advantage of this will have to bring bank account information when filing.

It is estimated that people will be receiving anywhere between $10,000 and $40,000, which is non-taxable, depending on the information provided on the form.

The RCMP has expressed concerns about fraud and other types of scams and are working with First Nations groups to try and encourage individuals to open up bank accounts to try and prevent those types of problems.

"One of our big concerns was that a large amount of cash will be moving in between hands and it just gets very complicated," said Erasmus.

There is roughly 80,000 residential school survivors nation-wide, and 8,000 of them are estimated to live in the Northwest Territories. Because of the large number of people possibly filing claims Erasmus added it is likely the system will get backed up and that people should be patient.

If the residential school people attended are not on the list those individuals should proceed with the claim and more schools will likely be added later.

Erasmus said that there is still action that needs to be taken in regards to the suffering and abuse many First Nations individuals experienced in the residential schools.

"For those that may have been abused, in whatever way, whether it's sexually, mentally, physically, those people still have an opportunity to be compensated through this process. So this is not the end of it. There's a lot of pain out there and we need to deal with that and recognize that it's going to exist for some time," said Erasmus.