Still wants Inuit-only res-school commission

I would like to revisit my member’s statement, made when I was a member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.

It helped to make the residential school survivor’s issue a public one. I made this statement in the House on Nov. 6, 1990. It provides reasons why I believe it was important for an Inuk to have been one of the commissioners on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“Mr. Speaker, this has to do with the treatment of Inuit students who attended school in places like Chesterfield Inlet in the 1950s. Our Inuit generation has suffered unduly because of actions taken by the federal government and the institutions of learning all in the name of assimilation.

“We, and I speak for many, Mr. Speaker, have been taken away from our homes at a very tender age for extended periods of time and subjected to mental, physical and sexual abuse. In addition, our traditional and spiritual values were altered severely. We were forbidden to speak our own Inuktitut language.

“There is a little wonder that so much of our generation suffer from a lack of identity, alcohol and-or drug abuse, family violence, suicide and so many other social problems that need to be addressed. We lack good marital skills, parenting skills and social skills which our fathers and mothers possessed.

“The Government of Canada and the Northwest Territories education and religious institutions must acknowledge and apologise to our people for causing our people such emotional turmoil.

“Mr. Speaker, the public also has a right to know our history. Social workers and other caregivers need to know and appreciate the root of our demise. A great deal more is required such as our people acknowledging that we have become products of a foreign system, and we must come to terms that it was not entirely of our making, but we must deal with each social problem individually.

“Once we can talk about this pain, hurt and grief openly, without shame or guilt, we can begin to help ourselves and others. We cannot just let it pass, nor pass it on to the next generation, Mr. Speaker.

We will need the resources and support for this massive undertaking. A framework needs to be established to effectively deal with this issue. It is a first step, Mr. Speaker, that is required to begin the healing process.”

The apology by the Prime Minister on behalf all Canadians was delivered on June 11, 2009. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2009, but with no Inuit commissioner.

I, and others, have insisted in the strongest terms that Inuit need to be represented as commissioners, as our Inuit experiences were very different from those of First Nations.

This is why Inuit need to establish their own truth and reconciliation commission. It would allow Inuit not only to speak to the commission in their own language, but would provide all Inuit, to speak on behalf of their mothers, fathers, and relatives who suffered perhaps even more than we did when we were forcibly taken away from them, by the church and the Canadian government.

It amazes me that the Qikiqtani Inuit Association can create a commission to enquire into the death of Inuit sled dogs in the 1950s and 1960s but we cannot bring ourselves – all of us working together – to create a commission to enquire into the most life-changing experiences we had with residential and federal day schools that affected us and that will affect future generations for years to come.

Many of our survivors have died before they had a chance to tell their stories.

Peter Irniq
Ottawa

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