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	Crash Victim Overcame Abuse in Residential School Alvin Yallee Went on to Become a Leader, Helped Settle Land Claim By Elise Stolte Edmonton Journal May 27, 2008 http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=91ff233a-dc58-4bf4-a277-ddf93c5118ba EDMONTON - The man killed in a northern helicopter crash last weekend was abused at a residential school as a child, but went on to become a leader in his community. Alvin Yallee, 51, died outside a remote diamond exploration camp near Norman Wells, N.W.T., on Saturday when the helicopter he was riding in crashed and burst into flames. Yallee was born in Tulita, a hamlet on the Mackenzie River, about 100 kilometres south of the crash site. Every winter, students like him were flown 500 kilometres northwest to Inuvik, to Grollier Hall, a Catholic residential school. For Yallee, the sexual abuse started when he was 13, he told a news service later. It came from a lay supervisor who went on to become a complaints investigator with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. A male cousin was also abused, but Yallee kept quiet for 27 years, until his cousin killed himself. Then he broke and told a friend, who was also an RCMP officer. Yallee was the first student to file a written complaint. "I was the second one," said another abuse survivor, who asked not to be identified. "It's something you never talked about to anyone. It's real hard." At least 25 more students came forward. In 1998, the man who abused Yallee was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Yallee faced a lot of criticism from family and friends when he first came forward. "I was mad at him, of course. 'What the hell are you talking about. This is personal,' " said Norman Yakeleya, Yallee's first cousin and now a territorial MLA. "It upset life. We had to really dig deep and acknowledge it, say yes, it did happen. Nobody wanted to do that. "There was a lot of shame, a lot of teasing. But at the end of the day, we're really thankful to him." After the criminal case, the former students told their stories again in front of representatives of the church and federal government. In 2002, they finally reached an out-of-court settlement. Looking back at his cousin's life, Yakeleya said Yallee would be most proud of his work getting the Sahtu Land Claim Agreement signed. Yallee travelled to remote communities to build consensus. The Sahtu region signed for $75 million and ownership over 40,000 square kilometres. Yallee became president of the resulting Tulita Land and Financial Corp., created to manage Tulita's share of the settlement funds. He focused on building scholarships and helping local people retrain and get jobs in local industries. He also helped children attend cultural camps, learning survival skills in the bush. "He really believed in that. It helps ground you as an individual," said a good friend, Judith Wright-Bird, current executive director of the corporation. "His dream was always to retire and move into the bush. When he solved all the world's problems, he'd retire and move back." Yallee leaves behind his wife, two sons and at least two grandchildren, Wright-Bird said. He'll be missed in Tulita, a hamlet of fewer than 600 people. Yallee was working with Cabo Drilling Pacific when he died, helping to determine if further diamond mine exploration in the region would be sustainable, said Yakeleya. Two Transportation Safety Board investigators were still at the crash scene Monday. Drill foreman Don Morrison pulled the pilot from the burning wreckage. She is in stable condition at the University Hospital. Contact: estolte@thejournal.canwest.com.
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