One Nunavummiuq to advise school commission

Two Inuit survivors of the residential school system have been appointed to an Indian Residential School Survivor Committee which will advise and assist the actual commission.

Rebekah Uqi Williams, assistant deputy minister of Justice in the government of Nunavut, is the only Nunavummiuq on the committee. She has also served in various positions in the territorial government and in her home hamlet of Arctic Bay.

Williams spent four years at the Churchill Vocational Centre, a residential school to which many Inuit were sent from what is now Nunavut.

The commission has been criticized for not appointing an Inuk to the commission itself. Appointing two Inuit to the survivors' committee may help address those concerns, she said.

"I think it's a good attempt," she said. "I know that the expectation is high and it's going to take every one of us together to make it work, through good communication, for the commissioners to understand who Inuit are. We have territories: Nunavut, Nunavik and Nunatsiaq. We speak Inuktitut. That's going to have to be really, really respected for people to express their feelings, their heart, using the language they are comfortable with.

"This is very important because it had a great impact. I'm in my late 50s now and it impacted this generation greatly, in their lives and their families as well," Williams said. "I know there have been many healing sessions for a number of years now. Now we have come to the stage where the real work needs to be done to give some closure and go forward from here."

John Banksland, an Inuvialuit elder from Inuvik who has been involved in with the administration of the health services in his home region, will also be on the committee.

The remaining members of the Survivors' Committee are seven members of First Nations and one Metis. Most are from Manitoba, but there are members from the Maritimes and the other western provinces which have large aboriginal populations. All are survivors of the Indian residential school system.

In a press release, Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl said the committee is an integral part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that will provide advice and guidance to the commission, and assist the commissioners in their efforts to gather the stories of former Indian residential schools students. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami announced July 16 that the Truth and reconciliation commission would establish an Inuit sub-commission to address the specific concerns of Inuit survivors and their families.

"I am pleased that the commissioners understand the need to establish a forum for Inuit survivors to tell their stories in their own language, in their own communities," stated ITK president Mary Simon in a joint press release.

Although the details of the sub-commission haven't been finalized, Simon announced that an agreement had been reached between ITK and the Truth and Reconciliation Commissioners.

"It is my expectation that nothing will be done in the Arctic without Inuit involvement," stated commissioner Justice Murray Sinclair the same press release.

"The three commissioners have always intended to ensure that Inuit will have a process that is specific to Inuit needs."

The sub-commission is designed to work within the commission's already existing structures rather than replace it in working with Inuit, according to ITK's information.

Source : Northern News Services Online