Chief Perry Bellegarde has announced he will not be seeking re-election next summer as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Chief Bellegarde made the announcement the day before this year’s AFN general assembly, which wrapped up on Dec. 9. Following the assembly, Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya told…
Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya is calling on northern and federal leaders to enforce Alberta to reinstate environmental monitoring of the oil sands. The Alberta Environment and Parks department suspended certain monitoring practices with the oil sands as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Alberta Energy Regulator has received legitimate…
The National Chief of the Dene Nation is advising his people to go out on the land to avoid exposure to coronavirus. Norman Yakeleya made the comment during a live phone interview on CKLB Radio Tuesday morning. “That’s what the elders are telling us. Go out on the land. This…
Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya congratulated the British Columbia government for moving ahead with the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Last week, B.C. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to introduce legislation that would bring its laws and policies in line with…
Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya has expressed the importance of working with Dene people in the Northwest Territories as he sat down with 16 of the 19 MLAs-elect on Tuesday. Yakeleya talked to the incoming 19th Legislative Assembly members about the key priorities and issues facing the Dene in the…
Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya says he was “shocked” and “disappointed” at seeing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in brownface makeup. But he added if you look at the broader institution of the federal government, it wasn’t so surprising. “Ever since the Europeans first stepped on our country, our lands,” said…
The National Chief of the Dene Nation is echoing the positive sentiments of Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde after the federal government Wednesday approved a class action settlement with survivors of Indian Day Schools. Both Norman Yakeleya and Bellegarde say the settlement is an important step towards…
Hundreds of Indigenous people in the Northwest Territories are taking a pro-active approach to the proposed Indian Day School settlement. CKLB recently came across a poster on social media shared by Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya advising people to contact the Department of Education, Culture and Employment for their day…
Going into their second to last sitting before the fall election, members of the Legislative Assembly were facing 18 bills with another four soon on the way. Two of them were handled quickly on Thursday afternoon. In a news release, MLA Cory Vanthuyne, chair of the Standing Committee on Economic…
This story contains passages that may trigger traumatic memories. Be warned before reading. “I was in the day school (in Tulita) when the teacher broke a three-foot ruler over my back,” says Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya. “We were strapped with leather straps, got our ears pulled and they didn”t…