Final message as Deputy Grand Chief

Our pathway is never easy, but we must always move forward and continue building our Nation. Twenty-eight years ago, the Gwich’in took a new direction forward. Our people were united and with the strength of our leaders and wisdom of our Elders, we signed an agreement so the Gwich’in could remain strong in our homeland forever. We had signed Treaties before, only to be betrayed and forced into the shackles of the Indian Act. Canada tried to destroy who we are and the basic strength of our people. But Gwich’in are strong and our leaders and Elders led us to a new place - a new Gwich’in future, enshrined in a new Treaty, to make our own way. The inheritance of the strong mandate of our people remains with the younger generation, with the guidance of our knowledge holders and Elders who continue to provide us with the strength to break free of the shackles of colonial policies and laws.

Today, just as we look to parents, grandparents, and Elders to prepare the next generation, Gwich’in also look to our leaders from the Gwich’in Land Claim to prepare the next generation. It is a sacred honour and duty to support the next generation and we must ask ourselves if we are fulfilling the extent of this duty. On the signing of the Land Claim twenty-eight years ago, our people collectively agreed to develop an essential piece of the foundation for us to build our Nation. We have seen the efforts of those involved in their peoples’ governance to build on the legacy of our Modern Treaty. Despite these efforts, we are experiencing great challenges in keeping united. Are these challenges a reflection of this new treaty approach not working for our people or a reflection of our people not working for this Treaty?

The history of Gwich’in has been one of warriors, survival, empowerment, and one in where a Nation has thrived. A history in which unwritten agreements amongst the different Gwich’in families, other Indigenous groups, and the land and animals have been building blocks in our nationhood. Our ancestors were strengthened by their connections and relationships with each other, the land and animals to make it through in the darkest of times. Although those agreements and treaties are of a different era, they have stood the test of time, because our people have worked to uphold those treaties. Some of these unwritten agreements were so important that they became encoded in our creation stories, legends, and spirituality and it is through our interconnectedness as a collective that they remain alive (as we’ve always been). Those teachings provided to us from creator, are the basis of our inherent rights.

Our resiliency has been tested by the Canadian system since our people have been in contact with European settlers. Government and business of the 1800’s placed our people in settlements to control who we are, they’ve provided a currency that has taken away from our traditional exchanges and then have taken our trading routes to benefit their mandate of assimilation and extinguishment. Implemented through the Indian Act, this system attempted to destroy us through making it illegal for Indigenous people across this country to have our own political systems. The same colonial system that put our families and friends in prison for practicing our cultural teachings, cultural gatherings and all that make us who we are. The same system that created residential schools and tried to take the Indian out of the child. This colonial system also allowed for the creation of a government that created the policies and institutions that attempted to assimilate us, which eventually lead to the creation of the 1969 White Paper of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s government. The White Paper would have effectively led the Canadian government down a deeper path of cultural genocide by proposing the Government end its relationship with Indigenous peoples and to gradually eliminate any existing Treaties such as Treaty 11, the establishment of our Nation-to-Nation relationship with the Crown. This proposal created an opportunity for our Indigenous leaders of the time to actively challenge such policies. They won with the recognition and affirmation of our rights in 1982. We must not go back, we must move forward to self-determination, far away from the Indian Act.

In my role as Deputy Grand Chief, the most surprising challenge I discovered to our unity was that these assimilation tactics have worked, our people have been divided and it has pitted our past leaders against our current and future leaders (youth). I have found this a significant obstacle in the implementation of our own legacy and our birthright as the future of the Gwich’in Nation. Some of these former leaders have been unwilling to teach or train the next generation. Some of these leaders have run for office on the claim of rebuilding their Indian Act bands - the offspring of the very system that tried to destroy us.

The vision and inspiration of those who led us to our Treaty lives on, even if they no longer believe in it. To those leaders who paved the way - we still believe in you. We respect you. You have earned your right to be above the fray of politics and to be voices of unity, and we invite you to take your place as keepers of wisdom. As younger Gwich’in, it is on us to prove we are worthy of the journey they started and to encourage them to rejoin us on it. We must utilize the tools that have been provided for us and break a clear new trail for those that come after us. A trail that brings us to spaces where our Elders and knowledge holders can guide us to truth, the torch must be passed.

I have had my share of struggles during my term, but my sense of responsibility helped me in overcoming my doubts and allowed me to see we have made significant accomplishments in our short time. This is a testament of our ancestors’ teachings, being solutions oriented, and having strong relationships. We have seen the gaps in our Land Claim Agreement and have strengthened them by breathing life into our inherent rights and negotiating amendments that provide Gwich’in with direct board appointment powers, no more waiting for government to give us approval for our representation; the only land claim body without a self-government agreement in Canada to have such powers. I’ve lead our team in utilizing our traditional teachings in how we deal with conflict with our partners, we’ve done this by negotiating a new dispute resolution chapter that ensures we can empower ourselves to continue to be solutions oriented in dealing with any dispute amongst the signatories of the GCLCA and truly implement our agreement.

Our place in these lands, our traditional territory and our home has been secured through our inherent rights and our Nationhood. We must continue to fight against the injustices, past and present to ensure a bright future. There shall be no place on any square inch of Gwich’in territory for the assimilation of our people, but strength in each of us sharing our answer to the question: What does it mean to be proud to be Gwich’in? There will be no more shackles of colonialism, we will not stand behind the bars of assimilation and we will shine through the clouds of discrimination within our own communities. This is the true fight, the rebuilding of our Nation, and the collective pursuit of self-determination; we all must make this our priority. We need to gather, united, all communities, all Gwich’in young and old, to set the direction for renewed self-determination by standing together to negotiate a Gwich’in self-government agreement. We shall stand on the shoulders of giants, the likes of which are your relatives such as Chief Johnny Kaye, Chief Andrew Stewart, Chief Johnny Charlie, Chief Freddy Greenland, matriarch Sarah Jerome, matriarch Bertha Francis, and countless others.

We must not do a disservice of our people by continuing to hold ourselves back. We shall be successful in all this, when you live up to your responsibility!

As my time as Deputy Grand Chief draws to a close, I reflect on the boundless legacy left by our ancestors; I think about the possibilities for our youth together with their potential; I reflect on my own adolescence and thinking I had no future and I’m left with hope because I realize everything is possible.

I’d like to thank the team that helped me in my campaign four years ago, especially the Elders who have continued to provide guidance since. Thank you to Grand Chief Greenland-Morgan and all of our staff over the last four years that have supported my grand visions. I will miss having worked with you all for the last seven years at the Gwich’in Tribal Council and wish you all continued success. 

 To the youth – don’t wait for permission to step up!

 To my family, thank you for the sacrifices you’ve made and all the love and patience that has allowed me to do this work. 

Haii,

Jordan Peterson

Deputy Grand Chief

Gwich'in Tribal Council