The Dene Nation has a new national chief, but he's not in any way new to the political scene in the NWT.
The new leader is Norman Yakeleya, who is probably best known across the territory for his three terms as MLA for Sahtu, and also as the former chair of the Sahtu Tribal Council and the former chief of the Tulita Dene Band.
Yakeleya beat out two other candidates to replace long-time national chief Bill Erasmus in an Aug. 22 vote at the 48th Dene National Assembly in Hay River.
The new leader collected 96 votes. His closest competitor was Eileen Marlowe with 75 votes, while Richard Edjericon received 61 votes.
There were 243 eligible voters at the national assembly, and 232 people actually cast ballots.
Edjericon is the former chair of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board and former Yellowknives Dene First Nation chief for Dettah.
Marlowe, originally from Lutsel K'e but now living in Yellowknife, is the director of communications for the Akaitcho Treaty 8 Tribal Corporation.
The assembly was officially hosted by West Point First Nation, which this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
In his acceptance speech, Yakeleya thanked delegates for the honour of being elected national chief.
"It's a privilege to be a servant of you, of the Dene people," he said.
Yakeleya called for unity among the Dene.
"I want to let the world know the Dene are strong and good people," he said to applause. "And I can't understand why other people think of us differently. However, we can change that and we will change that. Starting today, the love and kindness we have and the strong beliefs and values we have we will change the world, and the Dene will be the ones to change the world. We can do it."
With his election, Yakeleya also replaces Erasmus as the regional chief for the NWT with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN).
Yakeleya paid tribute to Erasmus for his many years of service as national chief.
"I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for leading the nation and bringing it to where it is today," Yakeleya said.
An emotional Erasmus thanked the members of the Dene Nation for their support over the years.
"I want to say to everyone here thank you very much," he said. "Thank you for your support."
And he encouraged them to give their full support to Yakeleya.
"Because the things that we're wanting to do will not happen just from the national office," Erasmus said. "It has to happen all around."
The outgoing national chief served 28 years in that position – from 1987 to 2003 and again from 2006 to this year. Plus, he served an additional three years as AFN regional chief.
In comments to The Hub before the election, Erasmus explained how he reached his decision not to seek re-election.
"What happens every year at Christmas our family gets together and we talk and we plan ahead," he said. "It's an election year and we starting talking about it, and our family felt it was time. So after talking that's what we agreed and I announced it shortly after Christmas."
However, the 64-year-old said he will still be involved in Dene Nation issues.
"The chiefs have asked me to be directly involved in some of the issues like the environment," he noted. "We'll see."
Plus, he noted he will help with the transition to the new national chief.
Erasmus admitted he will miss being national chief, noting it has become a way of life for him.
"We all have to move on," he said.
In his acceptance speech, Yakeleya mentioned only one commitment that he had spoke of earlier in the day during an over three-hour question-and-answer session for candidates. That was to bring back an elders' advisory council, along with an advisory council made up of youth and another of women.
During the question-and-answer session, Yakeleya mentioned several of his other goals for the Dene Nation.
One is to encourage a change of attitude by the AFN.
"Most of its work that AFN advocates is for on reserve, not off reserves," Yakeleya said, noting a lot of funding that AFN receives from Ottawa goes to reserves. "We get bypassed because it goes to the territorial government. That's got to stop."
Like many others at the national assembly, he called for federal funding to go directly to communities, not to the GNWT.
Yakeleya also expressed strong support for treaties with the Crown, and a nation-to-nation relationship with Canada.
"These treaties are sacred," he said. "They need to be protected."
In addition, he expressed strong support for more cultural education in schools and a Dene university, language revitalization, environmental protection and on-the-land programs.
"That's where our culture is," he said. "If you're looking for power, the power is on the land."
Yakeleya also spoke of his vision to unite all Dene everywhere, mentioning the Navajo of the United States and other Dene in Russia and Mexico.
"We should work strong to unite the Dene of the world and tell the world who the Dene are," he said. "I think that's a long-term vision of mine, but first we start with our home base in the Northwest Territories to unite the Dene."