Gwich’in Tribal Council

Community, Featured, News, Politics October 6, 2023

GTC AGA: Two presidents removed, delegation walks out in eventful final day

A forensic audit of the DGOs revealed financial mismanagement.


It was an eventful final day of the annual general assembly (AGA) of the Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC), as two former presidents of Designated Gwich’in Organizations (DGOs) were banned from serving for life and one delegation temporarily walked out. The three-day AGA wrapped up on Thursday, during a day of…

Featured, News, Newscasts, Politics April 28, 2023

Dehcho First Nations’ support of UNDRIP legislation ‘up in the air’: grand chief

A month after it was introduced, six parties to the legislation have still not signed on


There was much fanfare when the GNWT introduced new legislation last month to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Premier Caroline Cochrane called it a “truly significant step towards reconciliation.” But not everyone is on board just yet. Late last year, before the legislation…

Featured, News January 26, 2021

‘Our voices have been heard by the U.S. President’: Gwich’in Grand Chief

In his first day in office, U.S. President Joseph Biden signed an executive order placing a temporary moratorium on drilling activity in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.


The Gwich’in Tribal Council Grand Chief says he is “ecstatic” that President Joseph Biden issued a temporary moratorium on drilling activity in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Grand Chief Ken Smith was among several Gwich’in voices, coordinated under the Gwich’in Steering Committee, to speak out about the environmental risks associated…

Environment, Featured, News October 5, 2020

Gwich’in grand chief says he cannot imagine a future without caribou

"Our greatest concern is the caribou," says Ken Smith, grand chief of the Gwich'in Tribal Council.


“Without the Porcupine caribou herd, you take out who we are as a people,” says Ken Smith, grand chief of the Gwich’in Tribal Council. “That is a future we cannot comprehend,” he adds. Smith says he is concerned for the protection of the Porcupine caribou after the Trump administration opened…

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Community, Featured, Industry, Life Style, News, Politics September 24, 2020

Gwich’in Tribal Council supports Mi’kmaw fishers in Nova Scotia

Newly-elected Gwich’in Grand Chief Ken Smith has thrown his support behind Mi’kmaw fishers in Nova Scotia exercising their “inherent and constitutionally protected” treaty rights. In a statement on Thursday, the Gwich’in Tribal Council said it stood in solidarity with the Sipekne’katik First Nation. A conflict between Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishers…

Featured, News, Politics September 4, 2020

Gwich’in Tribal Council elects grand chief, deputy grand chief

Kenny Smith and Kristine McLeod are the newly elected leaders.


Gwich’in Tribal Council election results reveal Kenny Smith will serve as grand chief and Kristine McLeod as deputy grand chief. The preliminary election results provided by chief returning officer Mary Ann Villeneuve found Smith was elected after receiving 611 of the 1,024 ballots cast. His competitor, Richard John Blake, received…

Community, Environment, Featured, Health, Industry, News April 29, 2020

Gwich’in leaders call on Canadian banks to suspend financing of oil and gas in Alaska wildlife refuge

Leaders from the Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC) and Vuntut Gwitchin Government (VGG) are urging Canadian banks to follow their American counterparts in banning oil and gas exploration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Last December, representatives from the GTC, VGG and the Yukon chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness…