Doreen Arrowmaker suspects her father knew she was destined for big things even when she was a little girl.
One gift she received from him in particular reflected this.
“When I was a lot younger, my dad, he was out travelling, and then he comes home and he buys me a typewriter and a backpack full of notebooks,” she recalled. “I was wondering why, when I could be playing with Barbies or whatever.
“He always said that those kinds of things are not worthwhile for me,” she added. “That has always stuck with me since that very day.”
Arrowmaker’s father, Alphonse Apples, was the chief of the Tlicho community of Gameti at the time.
Decades later, Arrowmaker now holds that position herself — and has the distinction of being the first female chief in her community’s history.
“I’m very humbled,” she said. “I wouldn’t use the word pride, because I think that I’m a very humble person. I take my position very seriously and I take my job very seriously, and I feel that there’s a great emphasis in extra weight that I carry because I’m a woman.
“As a woman coming into a very traditional system, it’s very hard to establish yourself,” she added. “But at the same time, I don’t think any leader should be concerned with what people think. They should be focused on what the priorities are, what the greatest needs for the community are, and in what capacity can people be helped.”
Arrowmaker became Gameti’s chief in 2021, after coming up short in the 2017 election.
Almost three years into her term, she still loves her work, especially the way she is able to effect meaningful change.
“Seeing things happen, seeing positive things happen in the community,” she said when asked about her favourite parts of the job. “[Chiefs] advocate a lot for their communities, and when you finally see it happen, when you see those projects come into the community, it’s really rewarding.”
Master of global management
Despite holding her community’s top office, Arrowmaker is not resting on her laurels. Instead, she seeks out ways to diversify her knowledge and skillset in hopes of making herself a more effective leader.
Her most recent effort to that end saw her graduate from Royal Roads University’s master of global management program.
It was “very difficult” to juggle her studies with her duties as chief — and the ever-present responsibilities of being a mother — but she’s happy to have made the effort, and is already considering pursuing a doctoral degree.
“I’ve always wanted to earn an executive MBA,” she said. “I’m so busy, but I knew I could make it happen.
“It was very interesting,” she added. “It helped me to really consider critical thinking in all the decisions that need to be made, and not only that, the impacts of each of those decisions.”
With her latest degree attained, Arrowmaker is now focused on a number of important issues facing Gameti. Many of them are rather “forward thinking,” like helping her community adapt to the impacts of climate change.
In terms of more immediate goals, she hopes to help bring a new multi-use facility to town, which could play host to handgames tournaments and other cultural practices.
Arrowmaker also hopes to be a positive role model for the young people in her community, particularly the girls.
“The first thing I would tell them is, please don’t limit yourself, especially when you think that something’s not achievable or can’t be done,” she said. “The sky is the limit. The opportunities are all around, and they’re endless. Obviously, you’ve got to work really hard and you have to be very disciplined in achieving any goals that you have for yourself in life.
“You must work hard and and be dedicated to realizing those goals,” she added. “But I believe that if you decide in your mind that you want to do something and you envision yourself doing it, you can make it happen.”
Arrowmaker knows a lot about making things happen — for herself and her community.
She believes much of what she learned about leading was instilled by her father many years ago.
“When it comes to my journey to where I am now, my dad obviously played a important role in that,” she said. “My dad was very instrumental.”
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