Court case won
Kivalliq Hall included in Indian Residential
Schools Settlement Agreement
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
BAKER LAKE/RANKIN INLET
Last December brought along some especially good tidings for Baker Lake MLA Simeon Mikkungwak.
Baker Lake MLA Simon Mikkungwak is all smiles in a hot-air balloon over Baker Lake this past summer. Mikkungwak led the way for former students at Kivalliq Hall in Rankin Inlet to become eligible for compensation for the time they spent at the Rankin school following a court decision in December of 2016. - NNSL file photo |
Mikkungwak, who lived at Kivalliq Hall while attending high school in Rankin Inlet from 1985 to 1989, was instrumental in legal action being taken that resulted in Kivalliq Hall being included in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
The decision will see former students who lived at the residence receive a common experience payment of $10,000 for the first year of school they attended, and $3,000 for each year they attended after that.
The lawsuit was started by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. in 2012, following the federal government's denial of an application - filed by a group of former students led by Mikkungwak - to include Kivalliq Hall in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
With December's decision, Kivalliq Hall became the first added to the list of eligible schools from any of the three Northern territories.
Mikkungwak said when he was about to go off to high school, he was advised he had the option of attending either Sir John Franklin High School in Yellowknife or Ukkiviik High School in Iqaluit.
He said that changed during the course of his spring-and-summer break, and he was told he and other students from Baker Lake would be going to Kivalliq Hall - Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik - in Rankin.
"A group of us were the first high school students at Kivalliq Hall," he said.
"A good piece of the years I spent there were good, but, being the outside people at the time when we first started there - and this is not to put down the Rankin people - I do recall during our first year, and the better part of our second year, we were always ready for a fight.
"Back when we filled out the application forms to include Kivalliq Hall in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, there were, I believe, three criteria: one of which was away from family, a second was language, and I forget the third one now.
"We did meet the requirements to receive the common experience payment, yet we were denied, so I decided to appeal the decision."
Mikkungwak said while he was attending school in Rankin, if he wanted to go home during a holiday weekend, he had to actually come up with the money himself to make the trip.
He said that meant spending the entire school year in Rankin for most students, starting in August and going through until June of the following year.
"I believe they did pay for us to go home at Christmas, as my memory serves, but that was the only time any of us ever got to go home to our families.
"I started to lose hope at certain points during the five years it took us to win this decision, but I kept the lines of communication open with the two law firms I was dealing with and that helped keep me positive.
"It actually was a shocker for me to find out I had won my battle.
"You'd think you'd be the first person to know when a decision was reached in your case, but I found out when I heard it on the radio and TV news."
It wasn't until the day after he heard the decision on the news, that Mikkungwak received an official phone call telling him he had won his court case.
Mikkungwak said looking back at the time he spent going to high school at Kivalliq Hall, those years helped him in a number of ways.
He said his time there actually prepared him for the fact that sometimes in life, you are going to be alone out in the world.
"You have to face the challenges and, while you may have support at times, you are going to have to deal with some things on your own.
"Another thing I found positive about my time there was - and I know some people might find this hard - we had a stringent timeline and a set structure on a daily basis, even during the weekends.
"We also had the option of taking law studies during our last year of high school, which you don't see today unless you attend a secondary school.
"That opens your eyes a lot more to really challenging yourself, and knowing what laws you have to live by and what laws you have to follow in order to sustain a positive life."
Mikkungwak said things are moving in the right direction right now.
But, he said, Nunavummiut can't be left behind when it comes to new programs and opportunities.
"In my opinion, the First Nations people are very aggressive and are getting the bulk of the programs that came out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
"The people of Nunavut have to get more of the programs and services that have become available.
"That's an obligation the commission should undertake, seeing that we're living in Canada and equality should be adhered to.
"In my personal opinion, for people to excel in life, and ensure their healing is progressing, they have to focus on the positive aspects of their lives."
