Inuit groups sue feds for hundreds of millions over residential school abuse (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Inuit groups sue feds for hundreds of millions over residential school
abuse

Monday, September 19th, 2005
http://www.brandonsun.com/pfstory.php?story_id=4265

(CP) - Three Inuit land claim organizations are taking the federal
government to court in an attempt to be included in any compensation
settlement for residential school abuse, claiming hundreds of millions
of dollars in damages.

"When the government of Canada forced Inuit to attend residential
schools, Inuit suffered through the same abuses and the same horrible
experiences as First Nations peoples," said Paul Kaludjak, president of
Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., which oversees the Nunavut land claim.

"Fairness requires that Inuit who attended residential schools are given
the opportunity to participate in the same compensation process,"
Kaludjak said in a statement.

In May, the Assembly of First Nations signed an agreement with Ottawa to
deal with the residential schools issue. The federal government
appointed former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to recommend a
compensation package and Inuit officials have been present at
negotiations.

But Canada's Inuit are not covered by the Indian Act and are not members
of the Assembly of First Nations.

So to ensure they are part of the settlement process, NTI filed a
lawsuit naming two Nunavut Inuit and the organization as plaintiffs on
Aug. 31.

Similar lawsuits have been filed by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation,
which oversees the Inuvialuit land claim in the northwest corner of the
Northwest Territories, and Makivik Corporation, which looks after the
Inuit of northern Quebec.

"The way the process has been set up, that's the only way we could have
gone," IRC head Nellie Cournoyea said from Inuvik, N.W.T.

"We had no option."

The NTI statement of claim, which asks for $300 million in damages,
draws on the stories of two women. Both make claims that will sound
similar to southern aboriginals: they were removed from their families,
discouraged from speaking their language, sexually assaulted and
physically abused by school staff and were poorly fed, housed and
educated.

In addition, the document - which has not been proven in court - says
that Inuit residential schools were part of a federal plan to bring
Inuit off the land and into settlements. Before 1955, few Inuit lived
in permanent communities.

"An integral part of the federal government's policy of relocating Inuit
was to establish a network of schools for Inuit children that would
facilitate their integration into white culture and serve to break
their connection with Inuit culture which was regarded by the federal
government as inferior," says the statement of claim.

Federal officials could not be reached for comment.

Residences large enough to accommodate 150 children each were eventually
established in 11 communities throughout the Arctic, including the
notorious Grolier Hall in Inuvik. Another 11 smaller residences were
also established, including a tent residence in what is now Kugluktuk,
Nunavut.

Both the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches were involved with running
the schools and residences.

The statement of claim says that many of the children attending these
schools had only ever eaten traditional Inuit food. The schools only
provided southern foods such as canned corned beef and boiled cabbage,
it claims.

"Many students had difficulty eating the food provided to them, to the
point where some would regurgitate the food," the claim reads.

Even children whose parents lived near the school were required to live
in the residence, the statement says.

About 100,000 children, many against their will, lived in residential
schools in every province and territory except New Brunswick and Prince
Edward Island. Most of the schools were closed in the 1970s, but it took
until 1996 before the last one was closed near Regina.

More than 86,000 former students are still alive, but many are aging and
some die each week.

Aboriginal leaders have suggested a $10,000 lump sum payment and $3,000
for each year spent in the schools for every survivor.