They were recognized for their endurance and honoured for their strength.

More than 300 people from the Yukon's aboriginal communities have registered this week for a second major conference to talk about Indian residential schools, the fall-out and the impending compensation payments that have already started flowing.

'We have been on a long journey,' Chief Mike Smith of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation said Tuesday morning in his welcoming remarks to participants.

'We have been on a long journey and we want to get back home.

'We want to keep moving until we take back our language, until we take back our culture and take back our land,' Smith said.

The chief said he truly believes that by regaining aboriginal language and culture, the future will be brighter for the children of tomorrow.

'So we have to work that much harder.'

Welcoming remarks were made by several chiefs from around the Yukon, Grand Chief Andy Carvill of the Council of Yukon First Nations and regional vice-chief Rick O'Brien of the Assembly of First Nations.

There were no firsthand accounts Tuesday of life in residential schools.

There was a common stance among the chiefs that the ugly legacy of residential schools still lives in and plagues their communities today.

Chief Darren Taylor of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation in the Dawson City area never attended residential school, but he still sees it in his community.

None of the challenges he faces as a political leader could compare to what former students faced, Taylor said.

'I am proud to be here before you, to support you, and to honour you in this way,' Taylor said.

Carvill said the tens of thousands of former students alive today are a 'sign of our strength and what we are as a people.

'The government came in and tried to take the Indian out of us, tried to do away with our people but we are survivors.

'I am honoured to be amongst you today.'

There are an estimated 75,000-plus former students of Indian residential schools alive today.

But there are approximately 287,350 more children, grandchildren, other family members who were impacted by what was described Tuesday as one of the longest genocides in the world's history.

'In other words, for every person who attended an Indian residential school, approximately three are affected by the legacy of institutional abuse and trauma,' Jackie Miller of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation told conference participants.

For the most part, however, Tuesday was not a day of first-hand accounts of personal experiences, but rather a time to provide basic advice to prepare former students for pending compensation payments.

The Indian Residential School Agreement originally passed by Parliament in May 2006, and subsequently approved by nine superior courts across the country came into effect Sept. 19.

It provides former residential school students with a lump sum, common experience payment of $10,000 for the first year of residing at a residential school, and $3,000 for every subsequent year.

For example, if a student attended Grades 1 to Grade 12, he or she would be paid $10,000 for the first year, and $33,000 for the next 11 years, for a lump sum of $43,000.

It's estimated the average former student will receive $28,000 in the common experience payout, Russell VallÈe, a senior advisor of Indian Residential Schools Resolution Canada, told participants.

Cheques are already being issued by Service Canada. The federal government has estimated there are 8,000 eligible claimants in the three territories, though there is no specific number available for the Yukon.

VallÈe pointed out there is also a separate Independent Assessment Process that allows victims of sexual and other abuses suffered at residential schools to go through a separate process for additional compensation, on top of the common experience payment.

The maximum allowed under the Independent Assessment Process is capped at $275,000 for the most serious cases of abuse.

VallÈe said the money is not taxable, nor will Ottawa hold anything back to square up any outstanding debts an individual may have with Revenue Canada or the employment insurance branch.

The money, he said, is essentially non-money in the eyes of Ottawa.

Participants were the Yukon government, which like the rest of the provinces and territories is also considering the common experience payments as non-money, and will not use them to calculate or recover any outstanding debts in social assistance, for instance.

VallÈe, on the other hand, said he was not sure, but would find out, if the payments are protected from bankruptcy proceedings against individuals.

For former students who do not agree with the amount of a settlement, who may believe the payment is short a year or so, there is an appeal process, VallÈe said.

He also assured conference participants that officials in the claim process have been instructed to ensure the process of validating claims and handling appeals is a positive experience for applicants.

For former students using the Independent Assessment Process to pursue additional compensation, the federal government is committed to contributing an extra 15 per cent of the settlement amount toward toward legal fees.

VallÈe cautioned former students to use their leverage in searching for a lawyer.

Some lawyers he knows of have already stated they will not charge anymore than the 15 per cent covered by Ottawa to represent clients filing for additional claims of abuse through the Independent Assessment Process.

Under the rules of the settlement agreement not including private court actions no lawyer can receive anymore than 30 per cent of a settlement amount.

One conference participant from northern British Columbia told VallÈe she knows of a lawyer handling residential school cases who was once taking up 45 per cent of an individual's claims.

For a lawyer to charge that much, VallÈe said, is both sad and unfortunate.

VallÈe also cautioned former recipients of payments to plan ahead to ensure a positive experience from the compensation they receive.

To that end, there was a presentation by the RCMP to provide advice on avoiding con artists and their thirst for a piece of the new influx of money into the territory.

There is also the potential of elder abuse, from family and friends, that needs to be recognized, participants were told.

And a local investment banker suggested survivors should plan now for what they want to do with the money when it arrives.

Ken Young, an aboriginal lawyer who helped negotiate the settlement agreement on behalf of the Assembly of First Nations, told delegates there will be an apology as part of the settlement at an appropriate time.

Young said his experience at two different residential schools on the Prairies left him unable to ask questions in school not in elementary school and high school, and not in law school.

When he represented his first client in court, he froze.

'Of course, I did not get paid, but that is when I realized I had to do something about this fear I had in me, and it was always there.'

His healing quest, Young said, was not easy, and is still not easy.

'We are always going to be on a healing journey,' he said. 'I know that, because I am on one that will never end.'

His twin sisters, said Young, were sent to residential school at the age of three.

'Three!

'For some reason, this government does not want to use the word survivor' to identify our people who were victimized by a policy that was wrong.

'We chose to use the word survivor' because that is what we experience,' Young said. 'We were expected to lose our culture, and lose the language.

'I did not happen. But much suffering has resulted as a consequence.'

There will be an apology from Ottawa at an appropriate time, Young said, noting it's part of the settlement agreement.

'Yes, there will be an apology.'

Like the other Yukon chiefs, Chief Eric Morris of the Teslin Tlingit Council expressed his appreciation and support to those gathered inside the Yukon College gym.

'The strength of our future is in this room today.'