One by one, the stories came forward Tuesday.

They were told by residential school survivors, some who have become leaders in their communities and others who spoke of their continuing journey of healing from their experience.

The victims, their families and those who have worked with survivors told an overflowing courtroom of the experience and legacy the schools have left behind.

The session was the final part of the hearings on a proposed residential school compensation package. Court approval in nine jurisdictions across the country, including clearance by the Yukon Supreme Court, is required for the package to go ahead.

Justice Ron Veale has been overseeing the case in the Yukon.

Under the package, residential school survivors from recognized schools and hostels would receive $10,000 for the first year they attended and another $3,000 for each year following. Another separate process would be in place for victims of abuse at the school.

For a day and a half prior to the survivors and others speaking, lawyers from all sides including claimants, the Assembly of First Nations, the federal government, which funded the schools, and the churches which operated the schools expressed their support for the deal, which was negotiated between all parties.

The session for individual speakers began with a prayer from Rev. Mary Battaja, an Anglican minister and residential school survivor. After leading the prayer in Northern Tutchone, sprinkled with a few English terms like church and lawyer, she led the prayer in English.

Speaking in the courtroom later during the hearing, she said for the past two years, she hasn't worked because she's been trying deal with issues that have come up for her from residential schools.

'It's been a long time, 43 years,' Battaja said. She's spent so much time trying to help people over the years, she is only now dealing with her own issues, she added.

It was during her time at residential school that she was told her brother had been sent away after he got sick.

'To this day, I don't know how he died. I find that very difficult to accept,' she said as she wiped her eyes.

It was her niece in Vancouver who sent her information a few months ago on help in dealing with issues arising from the residential school experience. However, her sister, another survivor of the school system, died of cancer before she received the help she had spent years looking for.

Battaja was among the many speakers who talked of the need to ensure survivors and their families get the help they need.

If there is a surplus from the $1.9 billion set aside for the compensation, it's set to go back to survivors. If it's $40 million or less, it will go to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation for its programs.

TJ Esquiro recalled not being able to discipline or even hug his child because of the residential school where he spent years looking after a student younger than himself.

He suggested the settlement will lead to more substance abuse, exploited consumer use and further 'slide first nations into total assimilation.'

The assimilation was mandated, he said, when Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, said 'get the Indian out of the child.'

Tears were shed by spectators and speakers as their experiences were recalled from the time they were taken from their families to the impact it had years later as they stood in the courtroom speaking about the settlement, which many acknowledged could never make up for the loss of cultural identity and, for many, the abuse they had suffered.

'Our parents had no say in the matter,' said Robert Lee Jackson, recalling his family being told they could let him go to school or face going to jail.

When he came back for a visit with his family on a school break, his grandmother spoke to him in Tlingit, a language he no longer understood. It was the only language he knew when he was sent to the Carcross school.

'I told her, I don't understand you anymore, Grandma,' ' he said.

He added he'll never forget her reaction when she slapped him and told him not to lie because school officials had told them he would continue to learn his language and culture at the Carcross school.

'In 10 months, it was gone,' said Jackson, expressing his support for the settlement.

Jackson now sits as part of the elder council for the AFN and served on the residential school working group.

He also recalled cleaning Yukon Hall another of the residences for the students from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. with another student.

And, he said, he has no problem saying he was sexually abused during his four years in the system.

He learned to forget about the years in the system by drinking until he 'woke up' and realized it was self-defeating. When he stopped drinking in 1991, he began doing a lot of work on self-healing.

While he doesn't believe in church, he said what has helped him most is forgiveness.

He pointed to a line from The Lord's Prayer, which states: 'We forgive those who trespass against us.' He also noted the story of Jesus being crucified on the cross where he looks to the sky and states: 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do.'

While he's also sought forgiveness from those he's hurt, he noted some have yet to forgive him.

Jackson said he hopes that by speaking on his own experience, it will open doors for others dealing with their experience at residential schools.

Others spoke for those who died before the hearing.

Children and family of those who went to residential school have been affected and should be included as part of the settlement, it was argued.

A letter written by one child of a residential school victim stated the impacts of school on her mother, who died at the age of 25 on the streets of Vancouver, had been passed on to three generations.

Not only were her children forced to deal with the loss of their mother, but the grandchildren were raised without a grandmother, the letter noted.

Another survivor said that while most have lived their lives, it's the youth who are now living with the legacy of the residential schools.

'What about our youth?' she asked. 'They need our help.'

Just learning now to let go of the past, she said, she lost two of her four children, one at 15 and another 22.

She suggested money should go toward helping the youth.

'No amount of money can ever give me back what is rightfully mine or my two kids,' she said.

In her own case, she said, she's spent about half her life in jail and is currently serving a three-year probation term. Now she wants to take what she's learned in her life and move on to help youth.

She also told the court she's grateful to have the opportunity to express herself because it's something she couldn't do in residential school.

Others called on the court to approve the deal to help bring closure for themselves as they continue dealing with their experiences as a child.

'We are the affected individuals and I want to move on,' said Esquiro, who said he was coming before the judge as Number 186. The sooner he can deal with his own issues, the sooner he can help others dealing with their problems, he said.

'I ask you to bring closure to 186.'

Closure for some survivors could take some time though, even beyond the implementation of the package if it is approved.

Hostels like St. Paul's in Dawson City and St. Agnes are not on the list of residential schools where students would be eligible for compensation, and there's also an issue of the records that were kept.

While there's a process to have schools not included on the list considered, the court heard Tuesday that the student records may not tell the full story of who or how long they were there.

Annie Geddes, among those students who stayed at St. Paul's, also noted there's no record of her being there for the more than two years she stayed at the hostel.

Some work is being done by the Anglican Church to look for any records, but it was also a concern for other speakers.

'What happened to these people?' Roger Ellis questioned.

Another speaker said one record showed a student was at a school for two years, even though when they got out they were four years older than when they started.

Veale noted it seems the federal government would be obligated to accept other evidence by survivors to show they were at the schools.

As the speakers continued into the early evening, many continued to support the compensation package.

If the package is approved by the nine courts, it would then be up to survivors to decide if they want to opt out of it. If more than 5,000 opt out, the federal government could then decide not to go ahead with it.