A black and white photo taken decades ago shows the students of the Indian Mission School standing in front of the building, lined up in rows, like many school photos.

Decades after the photograph was taken, it was passed around the gallery by those who had gathered to listen to the Yukon Supreme Court proceedings on a nationwide settlement for residential school survivors.

As the lawyers involved in the case continued to present their arguments of support for the settlement, a few of the survivors pointed to a student here or there, identifying themselves.

With the courtroom at capacity, more spectators sat in another courtroom, watching the proceedings by a video-link.

The proposed settlement, if approved by the courts in provinces and territories, would provide residential school survivors with compensation, known as the Common Experience Package of $10,000 for the first year they attended the school and $3,000 for each year after.

For those who experienced abuse at the schools, there would be another separate individual compensation package offered, which would be determined by an adjudication process.

The proposal on the independent process goes beyond physical and sexual abuse and includes psychological harm. It also increases the cap on compensation to $275,000 from $250,000 for pain and suffering and includes a loss of income clause to a maximum of $250,000. There's also a maximum of $10,000 available for treatment costs.

If the courts approve the settlement, but then 5,000 survivors opt out of it, the federal government could decide not to go ahead with it.

As Veale heard yesterday from lawyer Kirk Baert, who's representing survivors, the Assembly of First Nations, the federal government which funded the schools, and the churches which ran them, were all involved in the agreement.

'The voice of the survivors was heard throughout the negotiations,' Phillips said, noting that AFN national chief Phil Fontaine is a survivor of residential school and was among the first chiefs to talk about the abuse suffered there.

Other survivors were also part of the negotiations.

There were times, Phillips said, that the chief nearly walked out of negotiations, but eventually all sides were able to compromise and come up with a package.

Phillips urged Veale to accept the settlement so those survivors could be compensated as soon as possible.

'We need this agreement to happen and we need it to happen soon,' he said, noting many survivors are dying.

Baert spent much of the hearing on Monday afternoon arguing that the deal is fair and reasonable.

'This was a very carefully thought out decision,' he said.

Those who don't want to be part of the settlement would be able to opt out if its approved and pursue their claims in another way.

As he pointed out most survivors wouldn't receive compensation unless such a deal is reached.

Some survivors, for example, may not have known the court process is available or if they did, they may not have the money to pursue action, or they could be skeptical of the court system, or may be dealing with issues that have arisen from their residential school experience such as substance abuse, the court heard.

The package, he suggested, will help the survivors, in some part, go towards closing a chapter on the schools so those who lived there can, 'as best they can, move on'.

While the survivor's lawyers continued presenting their support for the package this morning, people like Annie Geddes waited to have their say.

'There's a lot of us (who want to speak),' she said, adding the lawyers have been speaking on the case for more than a day, while survivors are left with just the afternoon.

For about two years Geddes went to St. Paul's in Dawson, which was run by the Anglican Church.

St. Paul's isn't recognized as a residential school by the agreement, but Geddes said she and others are still pursuing it.

This morning she said she was pleased to hear lawyers recognize the school, when the issue of St. Paul's and St. Agnes not being recognized was broached by independent lawyer Laura Cabott.

She noted that research still has to be done to determine whether the schools fall into the specific criteria of being a federally-funded residential school.

Cabott along with Dan Shier, Debra Fendrick all independent lawyers, though Fendrick hasn't signed the agreement and Janice Payne, who represents Inuit organizations, continued to state their support for the settlement in court this morning.

It's expected survivors and those objecting to the agreement will address the court this afternoon.

The first residential school in the Yukon opened in Carcross in 1907, with the final one Yukon Hall closing around the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Information on the settlement is available at www.residentialschoolssettlement.ca