YUKON FIRST NATIONS WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP: THEIR PERSPECTIVES
by
Rhonda Lee McIsaac
BA, University of Victoria, 2005
Med, University of Northern British Columbia, 2018

PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF EDUCATION IN
MULTIDISCIPLINARY LEADERSHIP

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
April 2018
© Rhonda Lee McIsaac, 2018

Abstract
This narrative study seeks to give prominence to Indigenous women’s leadership stories,
particularly Yukon First Nation women chiefs. Chiefs, who deserve to be honoured for their
political leadership during the dawn of Aboriginal Self-Government in the Yukon. I
collected, analyzed, and presented the leadership stories of Yukon women chiefs in a
traditional Indigenous storytelling format mixed with narrative inquiry. Biographical
narratives will inform the reader about how these women developed as leaders, how they
have been strengthened and sustained, their roles and responsibilities, and how they perceive
the impact of their gender and Self-Government on their role as leader. This research as
ceremony (Wilson, 2008) parallels construction of a ziibaaska’iganagooday that signifies
and celebrates the journey of women’s leadership development. This study may be of
interest to Aboriginal women interested in politics, to those assisting Aboriginal youth in
leadership mentorship, and to other Aboriginal scholars seeking to honour their heritage by
conducting Indigenized research (Weber-Pillwax, 2001).

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Table of Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. ii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... vi
List of Figures................................................................................................................................. vii
Glossary ..........................................................................................................................................viii
Academic Terms ............................................................................................................................ ix
Acknowledgement: Honour Song ........................................................................................... xii
Dedication ......................................................................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1: Grand Entry ............................................................................................................... 14
Beezhik: Zeegwag ......................................................................................................................... 14
One: Spring ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Background to the Study ..................................................................................................................... 15
Situating Myself....................................................................................................................................... 16
Personal Connections ........................................................................................................................... 20
Organization of the Project ................................................................................................................. 21
Zeegwag ..................................................................................................................................................... 23
Neebing ...................................................................................................................................................... 23
Dagwaging ................................................................................................................................................. 24
Beboong ..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Return to Zeegwung .............................................................................................................................. 24
First Dance ................................................................................................................................................ 25
Outline of the Project ............................................................................................................................ 25
Chapter Summary................................................................................................................................... 25

Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 27
Niig- Neebing .................................................................................................................................. 27
Two- Summer................................................................................................................................. 27
Sewing Instructions ............................................................................................................................... 28
Preparing the ziibaaska'iganagooday pattern ............................................................................ 31
Personal story about the ziibaaska'iganagooday ....................................................................... 32
Ziibaaska'iganagooday Stories .......................................................................................................... 35
Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework ................................................................................................ 38
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................. 41

Chapter 3: Research Methods .................................................................................................. 43
Niswi- Dagwaging ......................................................................................................................... 43
Three-Fall ........................................................................................................................................ 43
Participants .............................................................................................................................................. 43
Paradigm ................................................................................................................................................... 44
Methodology............................................................................................................................................. 47
Relationality .......................................................................................................................................................... 47
Methods ..................................................................................................................................................... 50

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Consent....................................................................................................................................................... 51
Knowledge Gathering ........................................................................................................................... 51
Research Trips ........................................................................................................................................ 51
Charts .......................................................................................................................................................... 55
Codes ........................................................................................................................................................... 56
Themes ....................................................................................................................................................... 57
Ethics and Protocol ................................................................................................................................ 59
Conclusion: Tying the saubaubeehnse ........................................................................................... 61

Chapter 4: Research Findings .................................................................................................. 62
Niiwin – Beboong .......................................................................................................................... 62
Four- Winter ................................................................................................................................... 62
Qualitative Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 63
Data Analysis Chart................................................................................................................................ 64
Pinching the Tin Jingles on the Tabs ............................................................................................... 65
Themes ....................................................................................................................................................... 67
Overall Themes .................................................................................................................................................... 68
Women Chiefs’ Leadership Perspectives ....................................................................................... 70
Chief Mathei’ya Alatini, Kluane First Nation ............................................................................................ 73
Chief Doris McLean, Carcross Tagish First Nation ................................................................................ 76
Chief Norma Kassi, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation ................................................................................. 79
Chief Diane Strand, Champagne Aishihik First Nation ........................................................................ 81
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................. 84

Chapter 5: Discussion.................................................................................................................. 86
Naanan- Return to Zeegwung ................................................................................................... 86
Five- Return to Spring ................................................................................................................. 86
The Research Questions....................................................................................................................... 86
Themes in the Chief’s Stories ............................................................................................................. 88
Political Career..................................................................................................................................................... 88
Education ............................................................................................................................................................... 89
Biographical Information ................................................................................................................................ 90
Spirituality ............................................................................................................................................................. 91
Emotion................................................................................................................................................................... 92
Sounding the Jingles .............................................................................................................................. 93
Summary of Findings ............................................................................................................................ 95
All my Relations ...................................................................................................................................... 96
Evaluation of the Study......................................................................................................................... 98
Trimming the Loose Threads ........................................................................................................... 100

Chapter 6: Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 102
Ningodwaaswi- Ishkwaataa ................................................................................................... 102
Six- s/he is at the end of an activity..................................................................................... 102
Further Research .................................................................................................................................. 103
Final Intertribal Dance ....................................................................................................................... 104
Ziibaaska'iganagooday Dancing ..................................................................................................... 105

References ................................................................................................................................... 108

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Appendix A.............................................................................................................................................. 114
Appendix B.............................................................................................................................................. 117
University of Northern British Columbia Research Ethics Board Approval Letter ...... 117
Appendix C .............................................................................................................................................. 118
Appendix D ............................................................................................................................................. 120
Appendix E .............................................................................................................................................. 131
Appendix F .............................................................................................................................................. 142
Appendix G.............................................................................................................................................. 155

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List of Tables
Table 1: Data Analysis Results of Interviews Categorized by Theme, Codes, Total
Number of Codes, and Sample Quote

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65

List of Figures
Figure 1: Dancing the leadership stories of four Yukon First Nations Women Chiefs.
Ink on paper drawing by K. Seivewright. 2017. Daajing Giids Queen Charlotte: Haida
Gwaii. Kara Seivewright. Copyright 2017 by K. Seivewright. Reprinted with
permission.

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107

Glossary
Anishnaabe Terms
To honour the Anishnaabe language in this academic work, I have chosen to use
Anishnaabe words within the study. In this glossary, I present those words and their
meanings as I understand them and use them in this study. Where possible I have referenced
the definitions.

Atik: caribou
Aki: Mother Earth (Benton-Banai, 1988)
Anishnaabe: spontaneous beings or good (Johnston, 1978)
Anishnaabekwe(g): human being woman, Anishnaabe woman (women)
Anishnaabemowin: Ojibway language
beboong: winter
beezhik: one
dagwaging: fall
Gitchi Manidoo: Great Spirit, Creator
Manitooweegin(un): silk(s) – the Spirit cloth, material(s) (Johnston, 1978)
meegweech: thank you
Miskwaeweegin(un): red Cloth(s), fabric (Johnston, 1978)
neebing: summer
naanan: five
niish: two
ningodwaaswi: six
niswi: three
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niiwin: four
ogimauh(k): chief, leader, governor, king (Johnston, 1978)
ogimauquae(k): female leader(s) (Johnston, 1978)
pooshoo: hello (K. Dannenmann, personal communication, February 14, 2011)
saubaubeehnse (un): thread(s) (Johnston, 1978)
waubishkeegin(un): white fabric, cloth(s) (Johnston, 1978)
(w)gimauwin: leadership (Johnston, 1978)
zaenbauhn: ribbons (Johnston, 1978)
zeegwag: spring
ziibaaska’iganan: metal cones (Child, 2008, p.117) or jingles
ziibaaska’iganagooday: jingle dress (Sen. M. Sinclair, personal communication, Feb.11,
2017)
Academic Terms

Aboriginal: The term Aboriginal is used when speaking about the original people of Canada.
Aboriginal includes Métis, Inuit, and First Nations regardless of where they live in Canada
and regardless of whether they are “registered” under the Indian Act of Canada according to
the Section 35 of the Constitution of Canada Act of 1982 (Archibald, 2008).
Aboriginal Peoples: refers to all three groups (National Aboriginal Health Organization,
2012).
Anishnaabe: An Ojibway word meaning human or good people (Johnston, 1978) or simply
the people. It is also a term used to describe people who identify as Ojibway, Algonquin, OjiCree, and Odawa (Eigenbrod, Kakegamic, & Fiddler, 2003; Simpson 2008). It can also mean

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Ani, which translates as From Whence, from the words Nishina (meaning Lowered) and Abe
(meaning The Male of the Species, Benton- Banai, 1988).
Axiology: The branch of formal philosophy concerned with moral concepts, standards of
right conduct, and the nature of good and bad. Axiology pertains to moral judgments about
what makes actions right or wrong and not with questions of which actions are right or
wrong (Sullivan, 2009, p. 37). Axiology is an appropriate concern for decolonized research
(L.T. Smith, 1999), Indigenized research (Kovach, 2009), or research as ceremony (Wilson,
2008) because along with epistemology and ontology, the concept of living in a good way
are key aspects of an Aboriginal worldview. In Anishnaabe language, we would call this
biimaadiziwin, meaning the good or healthy life.
Decolonized research: Linda Tuhiwai Smith says decolonizing research "is about centering
our [Indigenous] concerns and world views, and then coming to know and understand theory
and research from our own perspectives and for our own purposes." (1999, p.39)
First Nation(s): First Nations describes Aboriginal people who are not identified as Inuit or
Metis (Voyageur, 2008). There is no legal definition but it is commonly used as a descriptor
for Indian (which was and can be offensive) (National Aboriginal Health Organization,
2012). This term can be a collective noun as well as an adjective, similar to use of “German”
or “French”, as German or First Nations people. Used as an adjective rather than a possessive
noun, the term does not require an apostrophe.
Indian Act Band: These are communities who are governed by the Indian Act and whose
monies and land are held by the Government of Canada (Voyageur, 2008; National
Aboriginal Health Organization, 2012)
Indigenous: The term Indigenous is used in this paper when referring to Indigenous people

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in a global context. The term Aboriginal is used when speaking about the Indigenous people
of Canada. Aboriginal includes Métis, Inuit, and First Nations regardless of where they live
in Canada and regardless of whether they are “registered” under the Indian Act of Canada
(Archibald, 2006).
Self-Government: Decision-making processes have been transferred from the federal
government, through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), to
the local First Nations communities that have signed the Umbrella Final Agreement; an
overarching document that was negotiated to determine the settlement lands, a financial
settlement, and economic and employment opportunities, specific hunting and fishing rights,
and representation on boards and committees, and have their own Self Government
agreements with special provisions for each Nation. The government process moves from
the federal level to a community level. This means that the Federal Indian Act no longer
applies to these First Nations.
Worldview: Explained simply by Wilson (2008) as the philosophy underlying why you do
the things that you do. Wilson reminded educators that what you teach and how you teach it
is a reflection of your worldview. Although each Aboriginal group has a distinct culture and
beliefs, most share the common foundations of an Indigenous worldview that are distinct
from the dominant philosophy in Western European societies.

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Acknowledgement: Honour Song
An Honour Song is sung at Indigenous gatherings like pow-wows and ceremonies to
acknowledge the accomplishment of an individual or group (Browner, 2004). An honour
song recognizes the journey that all have taken for this work to be completed. All audience
members must stand during the singing of the song. The lead drum and singer lead the song
and sing to all four directions during their four push-ups or rounds (Browner, 2004). In this
case, I am applying the honour song tradition figuratively, to invite others to participate in
ceremony to celebrate the traditional teachings, lessons, and education that have gone into
my personal and spiritual growth in a long and rigorous educational process.
Meegweech to my co-researchers who have been interviewed. Without their
assistance, this project would not exist. The Yukon women Chiefs who have shared with me
their stories, their time, expertise, and teachings are invaluable to this journey.
Standing within the circle, I invite: my children; Taylor and Sierra, and their father;
Michael McIsaac; Robert Russ and his family on Haida Gwaii; David and Edith Doyle; my
adoptive parents, my siblings; Graeme, Raymond, Jason, Rayanne, and Valerie, my
biological mother; Margaret Hill, my biological father; Roy Angeconeb(ba), my aunt;
Kaaren Dannenmann, as well as my Elders Freda McDonald(ba), Earl and Deryl Henderson,
Jimmy Ochiese and Cynthia Cowan; traditional teachers, Rob Spade and Dr. Celeste Spade,
and academic supporters Marnie Smith, Brady Yu, and Kara Sievewright.
I invite my UNBC and Yukon College friends who have been on this journey with
me since I stood up for oppression in our first evening class or those who have sat with me as
I drank gallons of peppermint tea and caramel lattes at the office and on the land. The
encouragement and belief in my work kept me going even when I was in my darkest
moments on my path to completing this project. I also need to thank the Northern Nishnaube
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Education Council, UNBC Financial Aid, Tom Kile, Isabel Okanese, Muriel Pilon, and Glen
Hansman for the scholarships and financial aid.
I would also like to thank my professors and cohort at Yukon College and University
of Northern British Columbia for their support. I am honoured to have known these leaders
in education and within their respective communities. I raise my hands to you all. I would
especially like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Andrew Kitchenham, and my committee
members; Dr. Tina Fraser, and Dr. Ross Hoffman. Finally, Aboriginal tradition requires that
I acknowledge that I was able to live, work, and play on the traditional territory of the
Lheidli T'enneh while attending the University of Northern British Columbia. I have a huge
appreciation for the traditional territories that have a strong effect on my perspectives on
education, traditional teachings, and on leadership. I have lived, breathed, and cried over this
project and I am grateful. It’s one Anishnaabe experience and it’s been worthwhile.
Meegweech.

Dedication
To Gitchi Manidoo and all my relations for assisting the ogimauh(k) in our communities by
showing us a path through the bush, mountains, rivers, and lakes. To my family and friends
who helped shape my teachings, my education, and my life.

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Chapter 1: Grand Entry
Beezhik: Zeegwag
One: Spring
The women are closest to the land – We need them to become our leaders. And as men,
we are servants and protectors of Mother Earth. Only in this harmony will we find
balance.
Francois Paulette, Dene Traditionalist
The aforementioned quote from Francois Paulette, Dene Suline Elder and former chief of
Fort Smith, the Northwest Territories, regarding the roles of women in leadership and men as
protectors (Asland & Greenpeace, 2013; NWT Literacy Council, 2014) rings true to me. The
teaching for me is the balance between women and men is important to the well being of the
community, family, and land. It ties women to the land just like the ziibaaska’iganagooday dance
steps do where the dancer must always keep one foot on the ground to maintain that closeness
with Mother Earth (Browner, 2004). The reality is that by living on the land and with the cycles
of nature without the burdens of colonization, the destructive nature of resource extraction or
imposition of colonial or man-made law there can be balance. Since my research into the
leadership perspectives of Yukon First Nations Woman Chiefs was at the academic and
grassroots level, this quote signifies my beginning thoughts on Yukon women in leadership who
maintain being part of the land and part of the water according to Yukon Elder Virginia Smarch.
Smarch, Paulette and the co-researchers interviewed for this project intimately know the land and
the water and how to live in a good way (McClellan et al., 1987).
As in line with the Anishnaabe tradition, I will begin this work with the custom of
introducing myself to Creation and to those who may hear, or in this case, read my words.

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Pooshoo intinawemaakaninaanak. Weweshkiinzhigook n’dzhinkaz. Atik niin dodem.
Namekosipping doonjiba. In English, I have said: “Hello all my relations. My name is Goose
Eyes Girl. I am in the Caribou clan. I come from Trout Lake”.
I must also acknowledge my biological mother’s territory, the Ojibway Nation of
Saugeen, and my adoptive parents’ home in North Bay, Ontario. I am honoured to be studying
on the traditional territory of the Lheidl Tenneh in Northern British Columbia. Lheidl means at
the confluence of two rivers – the Fraser and the Nechako Rivers – and Tenneh means the people
(E. Henderson, personal communication, May 15, 2012). I have also benefited greatly from the
time I have spent in Kwanlin Dun territory and in Whitehorse and in Tás ten Teslin. Teslin
comes from an Inland Tlingit word tás ten, or "long sewing sinew”, which refers to the 148kilometre-long and narrow Teslin Lake flowing from British Columbia into southeast Yukon. I
now live, work and study from my new home in HlG̲aagilda Skidegate, Haida Gwaii. Each
territory has had an influence on my understanding of Anishnaabe teachings, has affected my
education on the land and in school, and has a role in my healing path as it relates to my
ziibaaska'iganagooday and my place in the world. I am privileged to be where I am in this world
and where I have been and these places are an important part of the story.
Background to the Study
Women’s lives matter and women’s stories are important is a refrain often heard in
relation to Indigenous women and their place in Yukon history and the research completed here
is in spite of the patriarchal imposition in their lives. Women’s stories are important in the
Yukon and this has been established by Cruikshank’s work with Yukon elders and matriarchs
(Cruikshank, 1990).

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I chose to focus on women in leadership in the Yukon because of the work Dr. Cora
Voyageur has done on women chiefs who were elected within the guidelines of the Indian Act
and were operating Indian Act bands as found in her book, Firekeepers of the Twenty-First
Century (2008). Since the Indian Act no longer applied to the Yukon First Nations, it seemed that
their experiences needed to be looked at during this important time. There were sitting Yukon
women chiefs at the time I began my education and I felt that their stories needed to be told and I
asked my classmates if I could do this work. The discussion was short and the answer was yes. I
was nervous but read Voyageur’s book with the research for the Yukon in mind.
Situating Myself
I have had the privilege to move across Canada and attend various educational
institutions and have gained a broader understanding of education and a fuller appreciation for
Indigenous peoples and their varied cultures. It was appropriate that I found myself wanting to
concentrate on writing an education leadership project to tell the stories of Yukon First Nations
women chiefs. After living, working, and playing in Yukon Territory for the past few years and
meeting many women leaders in my work, community volunteer work, and my friendships, it
seemed right to highlight these leaders. Their stories needed to be told and I am the person to tell
it because of my life experiences, my education, and my desire to educate others about
Indigenous women leaders. Even since beginning my Master’s program, I have noticed more and
more interest in self-government issues in Yukon, in focussing interviews with leaders, in
holding conferences dealing with self-government and leadership, in women’s issues, and in the
courses and programs being offered to students at Yukon College. Indigenous leadership is a
good area to be involved in because it’s a growing field.

16

As an Anishnaabe researcher, the Aboriginal and Indigenous scholars who have preceded
me were a profound influence. I am grateful to Shawn Wilson, a Canadian Cree scholar now
working in Australia, for his concept of research as ceremony and to Māori scholar, Linda
Tuhiwai Smith, for providing an understanding of de-colonizing research. I thank Margaret
Kovach, a Plains Cree and Saulteaux scholar, for bringing forward the idea of a cultural
framework that linked my research and my cultural teachings together. I also find the
straightforward nature of Anishnaabekwe, Kathy Absolon to be just what I need to be strong and
firm in my Anishnaabek centred worldview and ways of research and knowing. Finally, Donald
Fixico, Seminole and Muskogee scholar, and Joanne Archibald, a Stṓ:lo academic, who together
provided me with an Indigenous perspective on storytelling and its importance to the
transmission of knowledge to the next generation. Many more Indigenous and non-Indigenous
scholars have also influenced my work on this topic. It is my hope that I am able to learn from
many Indigenous scholars in this work. My literature search highlights these authors and their
views on education, traditional teachings, Indigenous ways of knowing, and Indigenous research
methods and the value of Indigenous stories.
Along with my formal school-based education, I have experiential knowledge in my
culture, traditions, and language. The teachings that have influenced me the most in this project
process have been about respect, reciprocity, and responsibility (Weber-Pillwax, 2001). Respect
means that as a researcher I approach my participants in a way that takes into account local
protocol while also honouring my protocol as an Anishnaabe researcher. Respect has also come
to mean that I finish the work that I began. Reciprocity means that I give as much or more to my
co-researchers and to the Indigenous community that I am entering by not just doing my research
and leaving which has been done so much in the past in Indigenous communities (L. T. Smith,

17

2002). It means that I stay committed to the research and support the Yukon First Nations and
the women’s organizations. Finally, my responsibility as a researcher means that I have
considered the impact that my research can have on my co-researchers and the community that I
am entering. I also have responsibilities to myself, my educational institution and to my own
community by making sure that I do this work according to my understanding of the teachings
shared with me by my teachers and in my readings. These teachings have kept me on track both
mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually as well.
As I have gone through this research experience, I have had many privileges and gifts
given to me. Travelling across Canada and living from coast to coast as a visitor has allowed me
a wide variety of experiences with many Indigenous cultures, customs, ceremonies, and
languages. I have learned to appreciate the women, children, men, and Elders from different
communities and nations. This research and lived experience has given me the basic skills
needed to complete this research in a manner that is consistent with traditional Anishnaabe
protocols and ethics while conducting the research within the requirements of the Western
academic system. I have the confidence to approach this research with a mind to work towards a
decolonized approach to my research by placing my co-researchers, their experiences and me
together. I choose to honour their cultural and lived experiences besides my own. I can be
subjective in this approach.
I have also had the opportunity to work for many First Nations, First Nation
organizations, with women’s groups, and with student groups. Perhaps one of the most
educational and yet challenging workplaces was with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (now
called Indigenous and Northern Affairs). It is to their credit that I gained the desire to tell the
stories of Yukon women chiefs. I was challenged to tell Canada’s story and always turned to the

18

First Nations experience with self-government and found myself enjoying the Yukon First
Nations story because it was more community based and in my opinion, had more of a holistic
approach. It suited my life and experiences better to want to share the Yukon First Nations
experiences.
I cannot ignore the larger political context within which my cultural identity has been
influenced and categorized. I did not ask to be born Anishnaabe. I also did not ask to be a
Registered Indian under the Indian Act. I was not aware that I was considered as being a part of
the infamous Sixties Scoop. The issues faced by Indigenous peoples across Canada include the
difficult and often paternalistic relationship with Canada as represented by Aboriginal Affairs
and Northern Development Canada (AANDC); overt and covert forms of racism and
discrimination; the interpretation and implementation of treaty rights and land title; ongoing
injustices within the broader legal system, in regards to missing and murdered women, the high
rates of incarceration of Indigenous females and males; how the residential school survivors have
been abused and have come to the forefront with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(TRC), in addition to the various struggles of internal leadership related to each First Nation.
This list could go on but highlights just a few issues that are most prominent in the Yukon and
across Canada. All of these issues and relationships need to be addressed, healed and reconciled.
I am hopeful that as Self-Government continues to unfold, these issues and relationships will be
addressed and I believe that this can be done by the successful implementation of the Yukon Self
Government Agreements and with the hard work of the elected representatives on all levels of
government. It would be nice to know that for once, a signed document with Canada means
something.

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Personal Connections
I have suffered on many levels just like any other Anishnaabekwe in Canada as Absolon
(2011) described which are a result of the “cultural, political, social, and spiritual effects in my
life” and also identify as being “socialized in a dominant culture and in Anishnaabe culture and
have been thinking about decolonization for many years” (p. 18). One of my difficulties in
adulthood has been in learning how to balance Anishnaabe culture and colonial cultural
influences. One of my discomforts is now not being able to use Anishnaabemowin which I have
forgotten over the years. I was a fluent speaker up until I was adopted at age 10 and chose to
speak English after my siblings decided that it no longer had a place in their lives. Therefore, as
an act of resilience and recovery I will add some Anishnaabemowin to this project to support my
learning and teaching skills. To aid my learning and teaching, I have to rely on other sources and
family members for the language translation in order to place myself in this work and to respect
the dialect that I have been taught by my teachers and also by my family in Red Lake, Ontario. I
will use the Anishnaabe words within my project and their English translations will be within the
glossary. As an Indigenous researcher, I need to respect my position as a beginner in my
language reacquisition process. All mistakes are my own and I am open to correction and more
language lessons (Archibald, 2008).
Additionally, I have worked to recover my traditional teachings and skills with various
Elders and teachers throughout my life and especially for this project. I have also worked within
organizations in positions that have allowed me to learn and practice my skills and I have
volunteered with organizations that serve Indigenous women. I have watched and listened to the
experiences of other sisters, cousins, aunties, grandmothers, great grandmothers, and friends. I
have both lost and regained a greater appreciation for my own leadership voice over the years
and throughout this project process. In telling the stories of these Yukon First Nations women

20

chiefs, I hope to gain a better understanding of their leadership qualities, which will undoubtedly
affect my own leadership skills and qualities to better myself for the benefit of any community I
may join. These stories will also add more voices to the growing field of women’s history that is
growing in the North and across Canada. They will also highlight for emerging leaders some of
the issues and lessons learnt by the current leaders to help lessen the pitfalls along the trail
toward having more women in leadership positions in the Yukon and elsewhere. It is my hope
that my Indigenous framework will serve to broaden the cultural understanding and draw
connections between an Anishnaabe and Yukon First Nations worldview.
In choosing a methodology, I have struggled with balancing the two worlds that I have
lived in, worked in, studied in, and experienced. With the view of “research as ceremony”
(Wilson, 2008), my process needs to reflect my Indigenous culture and those of the women with
whom I am working. Throughout this work, I have drawn on images and metaphors that have
been significant in Aboriginal culture and that may resonate with Indigenous readers and help
educate others. This Indigenizing of the research project (Kovach, 2009) is found in its narrative
method, which draws from Indigenous storytelling traditions and in my use of the
ziibaaska’iganagooday as a symbolic framework. The traditional teachings associated with the
sacred medicine wheel will be used to help me divide my project into a manageable and
recognizable format associated with an academic project.
Organization of the Project
This project is like a pattern with many pieces that when sewn together it will be a dress
with all the details in place, and working together to tell a story and for all to hear the jingles
with each dance step taken on the earth. In the Anishnaabe creation story, the animals in a
flooded world got together to make Sky Woman happy again by creating a new world for her on

21

the back of a turtle. It was the small muskrat that was able to bring back a piece of earth from the
flooded world beneath her. Sky Woman created a new land on the back of the turtle and the land
is known as Turtle Island (Johnston, 1994, p. 14). Turtle Island is the name given to the
Americas. I first heard of Turtle Island when I was 20 years old and in my first-year Aboriginal
literature course taught by the late Dr. Renate Eigenbrod and she invited Anishnaabeg Elder and
Midewin cultural leader, Eddie Benton- Banai who shared the Anishnaabeg creation story. I
heard this creation story at the beginning of my post-secondary education and this is a story that
brings me inspiration and the creativity needed to do the academic work because it has given me
grounding in my culture.
In keeping with the Anishnaabe Medicine Wheel, I have chosen to divide this project into
four quadrants. The sacred number of four is a concept familiar to many cultures across the
globe. Turtle Island has four seasons; spring, summer, fall, and winter with associated activities
(Bopp, Bopp, Brown & Lane (1989). I have translated each of the seasons into
Anishnaabemowin and defined them in the glossary and have used these to identify my project
chapters while blending in UNBC project formats. As I progress through my project writing, I
add more topics to the medicine wheel as more ideas are brought out in the research and analysis.
A diagram is included to the figures section of this project. This medicine wheel has been
worked into the pattern of the ziibaaska’iganagooday in the four rows of jingles on the skirt of
the dress itself.
Each chapter has been assigned a season, a dress part or activity that contributes to the
pattern of the ziibaaska’iganagooday, and a corresponding written portion of the project paper. A
ziibaaska’iganagooday will emerge in the end that will signify the leadership perspectives of four
Yukon First Nations women.

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Zeegwag
In Zeegwag, Aki is in the process of waking up after a long cold rest. In the Yukon
Territory, the Yukon River is melting and the spring floods are on everyone’s minds up and
down the river. The sun warms the trees and it does not take long for the cottonwood buds to
burst their heavy thick scent into the spring air. Zeegwag includes the standard requirements for
a UNBC project which does include an abstract, the table of contents, list of figures and
appendices, glossaries, an Honour song and an explanation of how I came to be doing this
research and acknowledges my roots. It gives direction to the reader as to what to expect in an
Indigenous approach to the project and to prepare for the seasons ahead. Zeegwag for the
dressmaker is also a time when the preparation work for the ziibaaska’iganagooday happens. The
cloth for the ziibaaska’iganagooday is chosen, acquired, washed, and ironed. I have chosen to
label cloth as the metaphor for leadership in all of its forms. What makes it specific to women is
the floral pattern of the cloth chosen for the dress. I have come to know this as Grandmother’s
Cloth. Just as the cloth must bear the weight of the jingles and withstand the heaviness of wear
and weather the topic of leadership so must the dancer and storyteller.
Neebing
In Neebing, rivers and lakes in the Yukon are overrun with fishers and canoe
recreationists. The land is green and lush and the land is filled with outdoor recreationalists.
The animals are out and about fulfilling tourists wishes for wildlife sightings. The sun shines,
the rain showers cleanse the land, and the berries are nourished. Festivals, gatherings, and
community meetings are happening in Yukon and across Canada. Neebing is the time for
preparing the pattern by drawing and planning the dress pattern. Neebing will contain the
sewing instructions, an explanation of the ziibaaska’iganagooday including
ziibaaska’iganagooday stories and a short history of the ziibaaska’iganagooday. The literature
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review contains the ziibaaska’iganagooday origins and stories, Indigenous methodology,
storytelling, narrative inquiry and leadership.
Dagwaging
In Dagwaging, the Yukon people turn back toward the rivers as the salmon are returning
north to their spawning beds. The bush and land is busy with people who are harvesting and
preparing their winter caches of meat, fish, berries, and medicinal plants. In this project,
Dagwaging will be where the methodology, the setting, context and consent are located. This is
the season in which the Jingles are drawn onto the tin, cut out and rolled. No Jingle is the same
and this is true for the women in each of these interviews.
Beboong
In Beboong, the snows come hard and fast to the Yukon landscape and the salmon season
is finished for another year. A time for rest has come to the earth. This section includes the
introduction of the co-researchers, description of the data analysis, the themes and codes will be
described as they relate to the transcriptions of the interviews with the chiefs, my co-researchers.
In Beboong, the seamstress painstakingly sews down the ribbons and bias tape to the cloth.
Return to Zeegwung
The following Zeegwung, the land and waters return to their beautiful inviting nature as
birds migrate South again and young animals are born. This is where the research findings and
discussion occurs. This is where the personal reflections and concluding thoughts are addressed.
This is where the jingles are attached to the dress. The voices of the Yukon First Nations women
chiefs are heard.

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First Dance
The final chapter is the first dance and the conclusion to the paper. This is where the
ziibaaska’iganagooday is put on and is sounded for the first time. The ziibaaska’iganagooday has
taken a whole year to be completed, it will be feasted and given thanks by the dancer. The dress
has its own life and it will extend far beyond the academic work being done for this Master’s
program. The responsibility is one not taken on lightly by the researcher.
Outline of the Project
It is standard that a project takes a typical and expected format, my project might stray
from this format as my project is, first and foremost, Anishnaabe centred. In my learning and
healing journey there has been a flowing together of Aboriginal and colonial traditions. When I
think of my life, I have always been influenced by the written word. Writing began as a coping
mechanism for the complex trauma that I experienced as a child and as I have grown, I have
turned writing into a productive skill to make my way in Western society. From grade school
through to post-secondary studies I have enjoyed writing and telling stories. This is why I want
to tell stories and tell them from an Anishnaabe perspective. I want to become a dancer that
sounds the dress and the tin jingle reverberates in the air touching those who can hear, see, feel,
and sense its power. This is how the reader will learn about the four leadership perspectives of
four Yukon First Nations women chiefs.
Chapter Summary
This chapter has set up the beginnings of a good song and story to be told about the
leadership perspectives of four Yukon First Nations women chiefs along with my experiences of
leadership. Through situating the background of the study and myself as the
ziibaaska’iganagooday dancer who is making the dress and telling the story through the dance
we have learnt about the leaders and their stories. These stories are illustrated through the use of
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a Ziibaaska’iganagooday Framework. The making of the ziibaaska’iganagooday happens
through the course of a year.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
Niig- Neebing
Two- Summer

Me: What’s the greatest teaching in life?
Old Woman: You have to make your own moccasins.
Me: You’re kidding, right?
Old Woman: No. You make them from the hide of your experience, all the places you
have walked. You sew them with the thread of the teachings, the lessons in all the hard
miles. You stitch them carefully with all the needle[s] of your intention – to walk a
spiritual path – and when you’re finished you realize that Creator lives in the stitches.
That’s what helps you walk more gracefully.
So I got busy learning how to sew….
--Richard Wagamese, Facebook, 2016
Richard Wagamese, who was a dear friend and writing instructor to me, passed on this
neebing. But he left some very wise advice. Upon reading his words, I knew that I had come
across the way to describe my process of making a project come alive by sewing, beading, and
dancing my Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework to being. Wagamese’s words remind me to keep
dancing gracefully even in the face of adversity, that everyone is in process, all sewing
moccasins and regalia pieces of their own from the teachings around us. These teachings, which
have been in my co-researchers' words all along, are my saubaubeehnses. And just like how they
did not give up when faced with adversity nor put their community wellbeing in jeopardy, even
though they too have struggled, I will not give up either nor cause my community harm. I want
to be in a good relationship with the teachings.
This chapter will explain the process of constructing a Ziibaaska’iganagooday
Framework for this project. This framework is being tailored as a ziibaaska'iganagooday to help
me tell the leadership stories of four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs. Not only is it important

27

to include the directions and thought processes that go into constructing a ziibaaska'iganagooday,
it is also educational and informative to include the origins of the ziibaaska'iganagooday for
others who would read this work. This season will bring forward the information that will build a
solid framework for the ziibaaska'iganagooday by bringing forward ziibaaska'iganagooday
stories and the history of the ziibaaska'iganagooday. Neebing is the time to plan a
ziibaaska'iganagooday that will withstand the weather and the academic rigour of my committee.
Neebing is the beginning of a seasonal cycle and will give way to Dagwaging, Beboong
and Zeegwung again and each season will continue to build upon the framework and the pattern
pieces will be sewn into a whole ziibaaska'iganagooday which will be ready do its healing and
storytelling work on the personal, community, and academic levels. The design work and sewing
we do here will affect others and will be meaningful to others who see, feel, and hear the jingles
sound.
Sewing Instructions
Sewing is an important skill and art for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who wish
to make their garments attractive and functional. There is a need for room, space, and time. This
is also needed for a project. Sewing takes practise and you have to have a good seam ripper. The
tools required for the sewing box include other items like a tape measure, tracing paper,
thimbles, pins, cutting boards, an iron, bobbins, pin cushions, various scissors, saubaubeehnse,
and a good sewing machine. You will also need your pattern, which will provide you with the
patterns, the instructions, and the measurements to end up with a piece that will fit but not
perfectly. All patterns will need tailoring and adjustments to suit each person.
The pattern is an important part of the ziibaaska'iganagooday making process. Most
seamstresses have their favourite styles and even have their own patterns they use. Since my

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ziibaaska'iganagooday was made by long time ziibaaska'iganagooday dancers with at least 25
years’ experience between them it took them only 48 hours to complete a dress from getting the
material to having me try the ziibaaska'iganagooday on. It is these Elder dancers who have
taught me how to put a ziibaaska'iganagooday together and have helped me learn to dance.
An explanation about dancing would be good to explain how the jingles are made to
sound. “The traditional dancers do not cross their feet, never dance backward, and should not
move in a complete circle while dancing,” I was told as I watched dancers (Marcia Pedri,
personal communication, 2014). I saw that one foot was usually kept on the ground as they
moved lightly over the dance arena. The more contemporary ziibaaska'iganagooday dance has
more movement, quick steps, and dancers can cross their feet, as well as move in full circles, and
even dance backwards highlighting their agility. The other ziibaaska'iganagooday dances
include a side step and even a slide dance and these are described in Stegner’s unpublished thesis
(2009, p. 98). I have chosen to be a traditional dancer and keep my feet on the ground and to
keep the dance and teachings spiritually grounded.
The patterns of the ziibaaska'iganagooday are not all uniform and no dress will look like
others but they do share the basic pattern and jingles and parts of the regalia. The origins of the
ziibaaska'iganagooday itself began with a dream and so it is already in the realm of the spiritual
(Ermine, 1995, p.108) and it is also how my journey to this framework came to be. I will be
returning to my dream and to the teachings of my Elders and my fellow dancers.
Angmarlik, Kulchyski, McCaskill, and Newhouse (1999) in their book, In the Words of
Elders: Aboriginal Cultures in Transition, sought to bring forward the words and teachings of
Elders from across Canada through their lived experiences in their culture. Part of their
questionnaire included a section about dreams and visions. This is helpful to this project because

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the ziibaaska'iganagooday origins begin in dreams. Odawa Elder Liza Mosher shares with
interviewer Dr. Emily Fairies how dreams have helped her throughout her life and that while
some dreams are very real and the messages clear there are others that have taken years to
understand. “Sometimes it takes a long time before you understand it” (Angmarlik et al., 1999, p.
161). These real dreams are trying to tell you something, Mosher states. Other Elders in this
book also share their views on dreams and all are valid and hold meaning to the individuals.
Ojibwe Elder Alex Skead stated that the individual decides if dreams mean anything or nothing.
He states that dreams can just be dreams that are often ignored or not understood by the dreamer
while others can be what he calls a Spirit Dream that “talks to you” (Angmarlik et al., 1999, p.
189). I believe that my dreams are real, with clear messages, and that dreams talk to me and can
take years to understand. My ziibaaska'iganagooday dream is one such dream.
I had a dream about a ziibaaska'iganagooday design in my early twenties. This dream
featured a view of mountains and water that sounded like spring ice melting along the shore that
is washed up in the waves on a dress with red cuffs. It sounds like metal cones tinkling in the
water or like rain on a tin roof. I drew a design that remained in my papers for years. It was not
until I needed the dress and the teachings that went along with healing and health did the dress
and dream become a reality. I am now in my early forties and just now is this
ziibaaska'iganagooday coming to me in life and in academia.
As a dressmaker, you need to start with a dress pattern. It starts by picking out a design
that can be either traditional or contemporary. The gathering of the materials for the dress and
beginning the task of choosing the cloth and how it will be used in the various parts of the
pattern like the yoke, the sleeves, the cuffs, the collar, and the border are important tools. This

30

creates the pattern of the ziibaaska'iganagooday much like the preparation of a project: it is slow
and careful work. It is a time for prayers, reflection, and preparations before the act of sewing.
You have your fabric cloth washed and pressed and you are about to lay out the ironed
pattern on top of the cloth as shown and pin the pattern to the cloth. Now is the time to
concentrate on laying out the pattern for the ziibaaska’iganagooday. The pattern is drawn out
and planned.
Preparing the ziibaaska'iganagooday pattern
I drew out the pattern of the ziibaaska'iganagooday. I had a design in mind when I left the
drawing in my files. I knew that I wanted a traditional ziibaaska'iganagooday with jingles laid
out on the cloth on the skirt in four circles. The dress is made for “a full circle dance, a prayer
dance that represents the essence of cultural practices” (Dobson, 2011). The cotton cloth looked
so pretty on my sewing table. My mother picked the floral design on blue cloth. Floral patterns
have been taught by my traditional teachers to be grandmother’s cloth. She purchased it and sent
it to me in the mail. The cloth was washed and ironed to prepare it for cutting and sewing. This is
the basis of my theoretical framework and it is culturally centred. I ran my hands over the cloth
lining up the selvage edges.
The bias tape ribbons will be placed upon the cloth and sewn down onto the cloth. These
bias tape ribbons are indicative of the women chiefs and their path toward leadership
development and this will happen in the next chapter. Ribbon work can be simple or ornate
depending on the style of dress being designed and created for the individual dancer. I believe
the ziibaaska'iganagooday history should come before the literature search on Indigenous
methodology, Indigenous storytelling, and leadership. It establishes an Indigenous-centred
theoretical framework to build upon.

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Personal story about the ziibaaska'iganagooday
Cynthia Leitich Smith (2000) author of Jingle Dancer, writes about a young girl, Jenna,
who wants to jingle dance. The teachings of the ziibaaska'iganagooday are explained for children
to understand and for adults to conceptualize as a contemporary dance with associated traditional
teachings. It is a beautiful and simple story about the jingle dance. The dance is about sharing,
healing, decolonization, and hope. This is partly why this framework is important, as it is an
action that involves dancing and not just written words on a page. It is a simple explanation to a
complex and many layered teachings that makes up part of who I am as an Anishnaabekwe, a
writer, a graduate student, and ziibaaska'iganagooday dancer and regalia maker. I will also
examine the origins of the ziibaaska'iganagooday.
As an Anishnaabekwe, I have experienced the pain that goes along with being
Anishnaabeg in Canada. I was born on the traditional territory of Namekosipping into the hands
of my grandmother, my aunt, and my cousins. In my life, I have experienced neglect, abuse, and
trauma, hunger, racism, sexism, and lateral violence at the hands of my caregivers, my mother,
my family members, friends, and from strangers. This has had long-term effects on all four parts
or directions of my nature (Bopp et al, 1989). I have also experienced the loss of my biological
family and culture due to being adopted out, had the mixed blessing and pain of being adopted
into a non-Indigenous family, the hard and gentle lessons of gaining an education and exceeding
the expectations of grade school teachers, fellow students, and my own doubts.
In order to be successful, I knew I would need to look back to my culture as a way to
move forward into the future. Hence, I chose the Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework as a way to
help me organize my research in an Indigenous-centered philosophy that honours and privileges
the Indigenous cultures of my co-researchers or participants and mine as well. “The Jingle Dress
is a strong cultural reference to the power of women” (Child, 2008, p. 114). This statement

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helped me bring my Anishnaabek culture and Yukon First Nations culture together since regalia
is a cultural identifier for all Nations.
When I was a little girl, six or seven, I first learnt to dance as a fancy dancer. I could
jump, spin, and twirl much like a butterfly moves. I enjoyed this dance. I was adopted out of my
community at the age of 10 years old. When I was adopted, the only piece of my regalia that I
kept was my fancy shawl. When I was 14 years old, approximately 4 years after my adoption, I
snuck out to a powwow in my community. I snuck out to the powwow for many reasons because
I was sure my adopted parents would tell me no I could not go if I asked. It was a hot sunny day
and I was so happy to hear that drum again but I was too shy to dance at that time. As I walked
home from the college, I met an Elder on the road who walked with me and told me that the
rocks were talking to him and telling me to dance again.
During my walk, he told me a story about the ziibaaska’iganagooday. He did not tell me
his name but I still remember his story and it was very much in line with other stories I have
heard or read since then. I was 14 years old. I was untrusting, cynical and dismissive for my age.
It has taken years to see the meaning of his story. “The Elders teach a world-view based on the
knowledge that all things in life are related in a sacred manner and are governed by natural or
cosmic laws. Mother Earth is therefore held to be sacred, a gift from the Creator” (Angmarlik et
al., 1999, p.xvi). I smiled at him and left and didn’t think any further of this until years later
when sitting in class at UNBC and had to tell a personal story about healing.
Growing up, I was still drawn to my culture and traditions and when I was 16, I got a job
at the Friendship Centre in North Bay, Ontario. It was there that I began learning all that I could
about being Anishnaabek and being Anishnaabekwe. It was during this time that I began
attending local powwows with my best friend, Celina Cada-Matasawagon, who is a

33

championship hoop dancer, women’s fancy shawl dancer, a ziibaaska'iganagooday dancer and a
champion body builder. Cada-Matasawagon continues to be an inspiration for my cultural life.
As I travelled across Canada with my family, I was fortunate to be taught by various
Elders, groups and community members about medicines and songs. Well over five years ago, I
sat making jingles with my aunt at a literature conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba while I was
working on my undergraduate degree. I had dreamt of this blue and red floral
ziibaaska'iganagooday with solid coloured cuffs and bib. In my dream, it took a long time to
make the dress as a part of my healing. It has been long enough I think that this dream and this
story of the ziibaaska'iganagooday and its healing powers were too big to ignore.
I have been told that when I am making a ziibaaska'iganagooday, I need to ensure that I
am in balance within myself (K. Dannenmann, personal communication, February 14, 2011). In
2011-2015, I had been experiencing a great deal of turmoil in my life and I had to set aside the
ziibaaska'iganagooday, instead, I turned to using the four sacred medicines, the sweat lodge, and
my personal pipe to pray for more balance in my life. When I began to get back into balance and
harmony at the beginning of 2013, I was able to complete making the ziibaaska'iganagooday
with the help of new teachers. While I was learning to live in balance I was also learning how to
sing and drum with the Standing Nation Drum at the University of Victoria. The Coast Salish
territory has always provided me with good lessons and traditional teachings. After I cut my hair
I put away my bundle for a year. I slipped into a depression that required medication,
counselling, and the formation of healthy boundaries for a good life. Despite the turmoil in my
life these past few years, I have maintained a cultural connection, which has enabled me to
maintain a foundation upon which to rebuild my life as an Anishnaabekwe.

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I believe that Paula Gunn Allen sums up the thoughts about Indigenous women, the role
of storytelling and oral tradition:
Since the coming of the Anglo-Europeans beginning in the fifteenth century, the fragile
web of identity that long held tribal people secure has gradually been weakened and torn.
But the oral tradition has prevented the complete destruction of the web, the ultimate
disruption of tribal ways. The oral tradition is vital: it heals itself and the tribal web by
adapting to the flow of the present while never relinquishing its connection to the past.
(1986, p.45)

This awareness only adds to the spiritual nature of this dress and to my academic and personal
life and this project.
I have heard many stories from my family members, my Elders, and those who are
fortunate to be called storytellers, or writers. I have been blessed to be able to write and tell
stories and learn from them. I began to learn women’s teachings under a well-known Thunder
Bay Elder, Freda McDonald for 4 years. I continue these lessons today by sharing my songs,
poetry and art, sewing and beading skills, and my research. I am always learning because being
Anishnaabeg does not stop until I go through the western door (Bopp et al, 1989).
Ziibaaska'iganagooday Stories
I discovered that while there is a growing literature regarding the ziibaaska'iganagooday
and the ziibaaska'iganagooday dance, the information I have located has been within the dialogue
of cultural activities like the powwow movement, powwow music and regalia, Ojibway culture
and heritage, dance journals, and newspaper articles. In this sense, it has been very specific to

35

Indigenous culture and removed from the academic lens but has been gaining some research
interest by other Indigenous scholars.
In line with Indigenous storytelling, the ziibaaska'iganagooday story has been passed on
orally which contributes to the cultural specificity of this teaching. The ziibaaska'iganagooday
has been noted in historical records and in documents. Lyford (1963) states:
At the present time, the distinctive dress worn by the Ojibwa women of Minnesota at
their dances is a full, black cotton dress decorated with brightly colored ribbons, metal
disks, and ruffles on which there is a metal fringe. The jingle of the metal fringe is
designed to contribute, when the wearer is moving, to the rhythm of the dance music.
Neither the velveteen dress nor the present day dance costume bears any apparent relation
to the native skin costume of 200 years ago. (p. 111)

There are different originating stories as they relate to the ziibaaska’iganagooday. In personal
correspondence with ziibaaska'iganagooday dancer Karen Pheasant from Manitoulin Island, she
tells me about Whitefish Bay and the Lac des Milles Lac story about the ziibaaska'iganagooday
and its origins. Pheasant has published a book on the ziibaaska'iganagooday (K. Pheasant,
personal communication, March 2011). The teachings of the ziibaaska'iganagooday that have
impacted my life originate from the Great Lakes area. Karen Pheasant, from Manitoulin Island
has become a teacher and keeper of traditional ziibaaska'iganagooday teachings and protocol.
Browner noted that the Whitefish Bay community is most often attributed with being the
birthplace of the ziibaaska'iganagooday and the ziibaaska'iganagooday dance (Browner, 2004).
Maggie White, an Ojibwe woman, was ill as a child. Her father was given a vision in which he
was shown how to prepare and perform a healing dance. He did as instructed in his vision and

36

asked his daughter to wear the regalia he had made. As she danced, she became well again and
she shared this gift with other women to form the Ziibaaska'iganagooday Society. There are
variations of this story that are attributed to the Ojibwe and to the Chippewa (Browner, 2004).
The women who are ziibaaska'iganagooday dancers are seen as care takers, supporters of men,
and “in pre-reservation times protected the family from harm” (Browner, 2004, p. 54).
Ziibaaska'iganagooday dancers are also of “good moral character and a role model of proper
behaviour” (Browner, 2004, p. 54). Ziibaaska'iganagooday dancers also wear the dresses “to
ensure the health and well-being of an individual, family, or even the broader tribal community”
(Child, 2008, p. 115).
Since the ziibaaska'iganagooday dance is a healing ceremony, I believe it is fitting to
represent the concepts of storytelling, research, ceremony, and women’s leadership within this
project. It is also representative of the healing that this work has evolved into over the past seven
years, which has seen me experiencing many challenges that I have overcome. As Daniels notes,
the protocol associated with the ziibaaska'iganagooday dance must be followed and adhered to,
thereby ensuring the continued healing of the Indigenous people (Daniels, 2009). The strictness
is meant to ensure future generations are strong, good, and community builders (Daniels, 2009).
The story and protocol relates back to the medicine wheel and the need to live in balance with all
aspects of this wheel. I have a lot to learn when it comes to telling my own stories and I am
thankful to Daniels and her teachers for providing a good example to work from.
In my journey, I have experienced the healing power associated with this dance and the
true beauty of the women who wear this dress. Pheasant explained that ziibaaska'iganagooday
dancers are women trained in and associated with healing and wellness. In the 1970s, a group of

37

jingle dancers travelled to the Western provinces and showed the dance in various areas and
powwows. In 1989-90, Pheasant was chosen to dance and learn the teachings of this dress.
The ziibaaska'iganagooday dance has migrated to different areas of Turtle Island and is
important to the pow-wow circuit (Browner, 2004; Stegner, 2009). The ziibaaska'iganagooday
dance has not been adopted in the Yukon, however, which speaks to the cultural revitalization
process occurring in the North. The women in leadership there have their own regalia that
identifies them to their clan and to their community and carries with it traditional teachings and
skills. Since I have my own regalia and clan it was appropriate to pick a framework that fit with
my own experience. Cultural revitalization interests me at this point in my journey into
leadership and cultural education.
Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework
Just as the medicine wheel is divided up into four quadrants that are meant to be in
balance with each other in oneself, I have chosen to also divide or overlay my
ziibaaska’iganagooday pattern over it. The medicine wheel is not intended to overpower the
ziibaaska’iganagooday pattern but give it more structure and support in terms of cultural lessons
that can be derived from each quadrant. I have divided up my dress into four parts: cloth, ribbons
or bias tape, jingle cones, and saubaubeehnse. Each part will signify a different aspect of my
project process. This will be explained more later on in this section. In putting together my
ziibaaska'iganagooday framework I have conducted research into the background origins of this
dress and its meaning. A more detailed look into the dances can be used for later study.
The dress that I helped make can be categorized as a traditional ziibaaska'iganagooday
because of its simplicity. I have 210 ziibaaska'iganagooday cones made by my aunt and I that
have been attached to the dress. These cones will signify the voices of Yukon women chiefs and

38

their stories about leadership. This is where the teachings will come from for future generations.
This is also where the healing will come from. Each story will be as individual as the jingle cone
is and yet they will all have a purpose and will have a voice. The ribbons used to connect the
jingles to the cloth signify the leadership routes that each woman took to get to where they are
now, as self-governing Yukon women chiefs. These routes are the link between the women
chiefs and their stories to educate and pass on their knowledge to future generations. I was also
gifted with the cotton material needed for this dress by my adopted parents: David and Edith
Doyle. This gift is especially meaningful as had I asked them when I was 13 years old to go to
the powwow we would have gone together but I also see it was something that I had to do by
myself. The cloth while being the same fabric is also different by way of colour and placement
within the overall dress pattern. The different colours of fabric are representative of the Yukon
First Nations women chiefs and their individuality and uniqueness. The floral design; often
considered a grandmother print, is indicative of the subject of women’s leadership. The red
bands on the arms indicate the eastern doorway; where I come from and where the dress and
teachings originates. The bottom applique of the three mountains and the river indicates that
Yukon First Nations saying “Part of the Land, Part of The Water” (McClellan et al., 1987, p.1).
The seamstress storyteller signifies my role in bringing together these women and in their stories
in one place. As the storyteller, I am telling and sharing the stories of these leaders to the
community and to future generations and we will all benefit from these stories.
The ziibaaska'iganagooday is a cultural or symbolic framework for my project, with the
actual construction of my ziibaaska'iganagooday occurring concurrently with the completion of
this study. The ziibaaska'iganagooday may provide a spiritual framework as well, because
tradition requires that a woman come to the work of preparation for leadership, or to the

39

gathering of healing knowledge to share, with proper intentions and inner harmony. It has taken
me a long time to come to a healthy place while working on this project due to personal and
health reasons. It has been a lesson in patience and giving Creator the opportunity to do the work
within me and to provide me with the strength needed for this journey.
In the stories, I have heard a ziibaaska'iganagooday dancer is recognized as having
obtained valuable wisdom, which is similar to the credentialing process that occurs when one
earns a graduate degree. The life experience is recognized. Although the two goals – the dress
and the degree – may appear to be parallel processes, I think of them more as integrated
preparation in the same learning and healing journey. In keeping with an Aboriginal worldview
and the spirit of Indigenized research, I see my preparation for leadership as requiring personal,
cultural, spiritual, and intellectual growth – growth in one aspect is not complete without the
others (Bopp et al, 1989, p.12). I believe that the Yukon First Nations women Chiefs I have
interviewed have also experienced this preparation and growth in all aspects of their lives.
Decolonization through storytelling provides students with a tool that ensures they do not
lose their voice, their ways of knowing, or ways of living (Kovach, 2009). In this project, I want
to use Anishnaabemowin, my Anishnaabe teachings about the Medicine Wheel, my ways of
knowing and living because it is important to me and highlights the importance of culture in my
life and in my academic work. This Indigenous-centred approach to research I believe will also
be valued by my co-researchers and their ways of life and can serve as a foundation for
relationship building which is an important Indigenous research method (Atkinson, 2001). I also
believe that healing and leadership go hand in hand for any leaders to make a difference in their
community. This is why I choose to work within a decolonization process and highlight
Indigenous methodologies alongside a predominantly Western perspective in narrative inquiry.

40

By combining my Indigenous framework; my ziibaaska'iganagooday framework, with
storytelling I am able to tell the stories of women in leadership through the beauty of words,
sound, imagery, dance, and fine art. The health and healing comes from the sharing of these
teachings with each other and for each other. Being able to actively dance and participate in
ceremony in this ziibaaska'iganagooday brings to life all of the teachings that make me an
Anishnaabekwe storyteller, dancer, and scholar. I am following a red road that includes women
in leadership positions, healing and storytelling for the betterment of all Nations when it comes
to honouring women, their leadership positions and their place in society as women of power,
health and healing.
The ziibaaska'iganagooday that is created in writing and in reality, will be my framework
for my project on the leadership perspectives of Yukon First Nations women chiefs. The
ziibaaska'iganagooday is not regalia found in Yukon but it can be compared to Button Blankets
or other regalia of Yukon First Nations. The concept that is important here is that women and
women’s roles as leaders and healers of their communities and their families is built on traditions
that can be applied to contemporary times: “We must build strong leaders according to our
traditions in contemporary times” (Simpson, 2008, p.208). I believe that the women I have
interviewed have all engaged in health and healing in their leadership journey thus making them
strong leaders in contemporary times. The ziibaaska'iganagooday is a symbol of health, healing
and the beauty of a strong healthy woman who works for her community and for the greater
society.
Conclusion
The health and healing comes from the sharing of these teachings with each other and for
each other. Being able to actively dance and participate in ceremony in this

41

ziibaaska'iganagooday brings to life all of the teachings that make me an Anishnaabekwe
storyteller, dancer, and emerging scholar. I am following a red road that includes women in
leadership positions, healing and storytelling for the betterment of all Nations when it comes to
honouring women, their leadership positions and their place in society as women of power,
health and healing.
While the process of decolonization is a hard concept to implement in the academy and in
our daily lives, Indigenous people must persist. As I complete this ziibaaska'iganagooday, I
know that there is much more ceremony and dance lessons ahead of me. As I sew this dress
together I know that each stitch is a prayer for myself, my family, my education, and for the
people who contribute to this study and for continued growth and leadership development. When
I dance in my dress in my community, at my graduation, and at other powwows I will be
reclaiming my identity, a part of my femininity, and the ability to truly tell this story one day
with all four quadrants of the Medicine Wheel in balance (Bopp et al, 1989). I have learned a lot
about storytelling, about the ziibaaska'iganagooday. As I tell this story about the
ziibaaska'iganagooday I have begun to be an active participant in the resistance against
colonization in a peaceful, healthy, vocal and musical way.
The foundation in this literature review further supports the voices of the four Yukon
First Nations women Chiefs to be clearly understood and that their lessons as shared through
their words can be heard as jingles on the ziibaaska'iganagooday and in the ceremony that is the
ziibaaska'iganagooday dance.

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Chapter 3: Research Methods
Niswi- Dagwaging
Three-Fall

Research and teaching are ceremonies for building closer relationships with ideas.
--Wilson in eTV (2014)

In Dagwaging, the Yukon people turn back toward the rivers as the salmon are returning
north to their spawning beds. The sun hangs lower on the horizon and the nights get longer and
cooler. Yukoners are busy in the bush and on the land harvesting and preparing their winter
caches of meat, fish, berries, and medicinal plants. In this chapter, the individual jingles are cut
from the tin and rolled in preparation before being added to the ziibaaska'iganagooday. This is
where the ziibaaska'iganagooday begins to take shape. Dagwaging explains the Indigenous
framework and its application to the research, methodology, and ethics.
Participants
I interviewed Chief Doris McLean (elected 1988-1992) at the High Country Inn in
Whitehorse in July 2012; Chief Norma Kassie (elected 2010-2011) in Whitehorse at the Kwanlin
Dun Cultural Centre Elder’s Room; Chief Diane Strand (elected 2006-2010) in Haines Junction;
and former Chief Math’ieya Alatini (elected 2010-2016) at the Gold Rush Inn for a morning
interview. That is 15 years of combined elected self-government leadership by these trailblazing
Yukon First Nations Chiefs. Although I received a Participant Consent Form from Grand Chief
Ruth Massie on August 6th 2012 and we never managed to meet due to her busy schedule.

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The purpose of this study was to share the leadership stories of four Yukon First Nations
women Chiefs. They were at the forefront of self-government negotiations and its
implementation. The citizens of their individual self-governing First Nations elected the Chiefs.
These Chiefs agreed to share their leadership perspectives, share their lessons, and share their
stories for others to educate others. Their experiences are relational to each other because of the
political history that has shaped their careers in the Yukon.
Self-government transferred the decision-making processes from the federal government
to the Yukon First Nations communities who signed the Umbrella Final Agreement; a nonlegally binding document that outlines settlement lands and funds and representation on relevant
board and committees for each First Nation, who have negotiated and signed individual selfgovernment agreements; which are legally binding. The government process moves from the
federal level to a community level. This means that the Federal Indian Act no longer applies to
these First Nations. The First Nation can tax citizens and has responsibilities to govern their land
and resources (Canada & Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 2008, p. 8). This form of
governance was considered unique in the beginning of the land claims process. The Yukon has
11 of the 27 self-governing First Nations that are located across Canada.
Paradigm
Although I am working within a colonial structure, I have to find a way to articulate an
Indigenous paradigm and Wilson assists in my understanding of these concepts. Wilson (2008)
stated that a paradigm is “a set of beliefs about the world and about gaining knowledge that goes
together to guide people’s actions as to how they are going to go about doing their research” (p.
175). Anishnaabe culture and Yukon First Nations share beliefs about permission and I felt it
was right to do this research after consulting with my Yukon cohort, instructors and women I had

44

worked with in the community. L.T. Smith (2002) described this as ontology; my reality and
beliefs about my world. How I think about my reality and beliefs would go towards my
epistemology as L.T. Smith describes it. To gain more knowledge about my reality or beliefs, I
describe my way of thinking in my research methodology and also include my morals or ethics
for my axiology (p. 175).
An Indigenous paradigm comes from the fundamental belief that knowledge is relational.
Knowledge is shared with all of creation. It is not just interpersonal relationships, not just with
the research subjects I may be working with, but it is a relationship with all of creation. It is with
the cosmos, it is with the animals, with the plants, with the earth that we share this knowledge. It
goes beyond the idea of individual knowledge to the concept of relational knowledge (L.T.
Smith, 2002, pp. 176-177)
I have been impacted by this interconnectedness because of my previous work experience
and my life experiences in the Yukon from 2008-2011. I became an observer in Yukon politics,
worked in the public service and in social services which saw me meeting with politicians,
talking about politics, establishing relationships with people, and examining the relationships
between the concepts and lived reality of Yukon self-government. I was learning about selfgovernment and academic research enabled me to learn more and to share that journey with
others.
My research design is Anishnaabek because I am Anishnaabek. This is the first
relationship that has always guided me. While Lavallée’s research was conducted using different
methods it is the stress on Indigenous research methods which while different from mine does
draw on the same premise of being Indigenous centred. Lavallée (2009) states that,

45

Indigenous research is not qualitative inquiry; however, the methods used may be
qualitative. Indigenous approaches or research frameworks encompass far more than just
the methods. An Indigenous approach is an epistemology. The methods may be
qualitative as in this research, but research undertaking an Indigenous approach could
also incorporate quantitative methods. (Lavallée 2009, p.36)

My way of knowing and living are important to me and highlight the importance of
culture in my life and in my academic work. In this project, I have used Anishnaabemowin, my
Anishnaabe teachings about the Medicine Wheel to guide me and in establishing my reality in
this research. This Indigenous centred approach to research values the participant’s ways of life,
their leadership experiences, and served as a foundation for relationship building, which is an
important Indigenous research method according to Atkinson (2001). I am working on
decolonization through storytelling, which provides students with a tool that ensures they do not
lose their voice, their ways of knowing, or ways of living according to the work set out by
Kovach (2009). This is why I choose to work within a decolonization process and highlight
Indigenous methodologies.
As a budding storyteller, there are examples that push boundaries in terms of how to tell
an Indigenous story in research. Peter Cole is one such Indigenous academic. Cole (2006)
artfully tells a story between two tricksters, Coyote and Raven, who embark on a canoe journey.
It is written in free verse and places storytelling, orality, and spiritual practises like sweat lodges
and potlatches in its central place while deconstructing western thought and academic
expectations of what is academically acceptable in format, structure, and language and text

46

layout. This is what inspired my desire to construct a ziibaaska'iganagooday as my project
framework. This also inspired the desire to stretch the western academic outcomes for a project.
why aren’t you lining up your references comme il faut
I have already explained it’s because they’re multiple arms
of balancing outrigging this canoe journey water wings
and everybody knows that if you line all the Indians up in a row
you can kill them with one bullet strategically placed and I’m trying
to disprove that theory just being careful in my own way
you know survival strategy technologies of survival (Cole, 2006, p. 139)
Indigenous people are telling non-Indigenous people that we can speak
for ourselves and articulate our own realities we do not need others to speak
for us to teach us (about ourselves) to research us the dominant society has its own
culture to study and translate it has much work to do (O’Reilly, 2013)
about the “legacy of imperialism” in schools (Willinsky, 1998)” (Cole, 2006, pl 139)
The Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework is an example of Anishnaabe cultural values and
teachings as a means to illustrate the value of education, re-storying, healing, reconciliation and
as a means to overcoming feelings of racism, sexism, colonization, and personal negative
feelings that have built up over the years by both European and Indigenous societies. The
making of the ziibaaska'iganagooday was a gift for my healing and educational journey and the
women who helped me make my ziibaaska'iganagooday.
Methodology
Wilson (2008) defines methodology as the theory of how knowledge is gained and more
knowledge of what is reality and how you know reality can be expanded upon by asking “How
do I find out more about this reality?” (p. 34). What follows is an explanation of the steps I have
taken to get to my discussion and conclusions in the next chapters.

Relationality
I have learned and benefited from in my work in the Yukon. The Yukon First Nations
people and the other Yukoners I have met in the four years I was there have been very kind and
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loving to me and have taught me the value of culture and language, about Indigenous leadership
and about myself through experiential learning methods. Battiste (2002) defined experiential
learning as a preference that “values a person’s ability to learn independently by observing,
listening, and participating with minimal of intervention or instruction” (p. 15). I have tried very
hard to incorporate those lessons in my educational experiences at UNBC and have had some
success and hard lessons in this process. There are definitely strengths and weaknesses in this
learning and research process that will also be discussed in this project in another chapter.
Throughout my educational experiences in life and in institutions, I have always relied on
my cultural understandings and lessons. It has not been easy but I continue to walk both ways
and learn to talk both ways; as Rita Joe (1998, p. 114) stated about her educational experience in
Residential School. Joe “gently offers my hand and ask,/ let me find my talk/ So I can teach you
about me” (1998, p. 114). In this way, I offer my cultural understandings and lessons for others.
As a component of this research I have read about the value of a cultural framework upon which
to base my research upon. I have chosen to honour my Anishnaabe background and medicine
teaching by using the ziibaaska'iganagooday as an Indigenous teaching tool. It is once again
something that is not easy to translate or transmit the lessons this framework can bring to this
educational process. I had not considered the possibility of failing because in the end, I would
still have a ziibaaska'iganagooday to continue telling the story long past this project.
In Indigenous cultures, the majority of stories have been transmitted orally as noted by
Fixico (2003, p. 23). Wilson states that storytelling “is more culturally appropriate for
Indigenous people” (Wilson, 2008). As a storyteller, Wilson presents an Indigenous perspective
on research methods. This technique is more culturally appropriate for Indigenous people (2008).

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As a Cree scholar, Wilson has laid out his views on research methods using his experiences. He
talks to his children and brings us, the reader, into his family and into his research ceremony.
The sharing of knowledge between the participants and myself, as the Indigenous
researcher is through an Indigenous epistemology that is Anishnaabek centred. The
Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework is an Anishnaabek paradigm illustrated through design using
the leadership stories of four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs. The one way to do this was
through the making of a ziibaaska'iganagooday. The ziibaaska'iganagooday itself was built on
the transmission of knowledge through story and a dance for health, healing and for ceremony.
Dancing that ziibaaska'iganagooday brings to life the stories these particular women shared,
brings to life the ceremony in which this research is conducted in, and centres Anishnaabek
knowledge and ways of learning and sharing. The ziibaaska'iganagooday is a powerful metaphor
for women’s leadership and is in line with an Indigenous epistemology.
Reading Wilson’s work has helped me think about and ask about what Indigenous
research means and Smith provides an answer. “Indigenous research is decolonizing research”
(L. T. Smith, 2002) and it is my hope that this project fulfills the guidelines associated with
critical theory. These questions include: What research do we want done? Whom is it for? What
difference will it make? Who will carry it out? How do we want the research to be done? How
will we know it is worthwhile? Who will own the research? and Who will benefit? (L.T. Smith,
2002, p.239). Through my Anishnaabe teachings my Indigenous framework seeks to tell a story
and dance it into creation using Indigenous ways of knowing.
I see this methodology as the interfacing of the dress. It is my hope that I’ve sewn the
interfacing together so that it sits behind the fabric of leadership; the floral-patterned material
that people will see will be smooth and flow easily to the stories the women tell. The bias tape

49

ribbons that are a part of the data analysis are also important to the dress pattern. The bias tape
ribbons depict the paths to leadership that the women have taken and have shared with me
through their interviews. This becomes the basis for the stories I will tell and what others will
hear through the jingles.
Methods
The central question for this study is: What are the perspectives on leadership held by
Yukon First Nations women leaders? This question was answered in the narrative analysis of the
stories provided by the women. The story that emerged about their particular and common
leadership perspectives will be the story that I am able to tell. However, the question can be
looked at more specifically in terms of four supporting research questions:
1. How did they develop into leaders?
2. What gives them strength or supports and sustains them in their role as chief?
3. Which of their responsibilities and influence do they see as most important?
4. What has been the significance of their gender and of Self-Government to their
leadership development and performance?

These supporting research questions are important to the other women in Yukon
communities and across Canada, especially those who aspire to leadership. However, other
unanticipated aspects of the stories that Yukon women chiefs have to tell. The responses to these
research questions come from the replies the participants gave from the
Questionnaire/Storytelling guide (see Appendix A).

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Consent
This research is about Indigenous women leaders and asks about their leadership
perspectives and experiences. The leadership perspectives shared by the Yukon women Chiefs
will inform my committee, UNBC, Yukoners, and myself. This research has been approved by
the UNBC Research Ethics Board with approved consent forms.
Knowledge Gathering
I developed a Storytelling / Questionnaire form based on what I had read from Voyageur
(2008). My past supervisor Dr. Willow Brown also reworked the questionnaire. This was then
forwarded to the Research Ethics Board for their approval. The questionnaire (Appendix A) was
to act as a guideline to the co-researchers. The women were interviewed using a questionnaire
developed to have them tell their stories in as open manner as possible. In a narrativebiographical approach, my questions are open-ended to allow each co-researcher an opportunity
to tell her story according to her recollection and the sense she has made of her own life. It seems
to be a more natural and fluid approach to qualitative research.
Research Trips
The research trips were an important part of the data collection. My goal for the research
trips was to interview woman Chiefs who had been in office since their Self-Government
Agreements had been in effect and who were in office at the time the research was conducted. I
felt that their stories needed to be captured and shared.
I completed preliminary research into the Yukon women Chiefs who were in office at the
time and I selected the Chiefs based on what Kovach (2009) calls a “continuum of ways to
access information” and it includes my personal knowledge, and also by external
recommendation (2009, p.123). As I was an active member of the Whitehorse community I had
an opportunity to meet these women at prior events.
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The research process began with contacting each Chief via telephone and then follows up
via email and or in person when the opportunity allowed. I waited for responses from former and
current chiefs and was discouraged when two weeks went by with no response. I then called their
offices to remind them of the letter and was met with more favourable responses. Each woman I
interviewed made some time for me to sit down with her and I believe that this was because I
was speaking to them and this was a more Indigenous method of communicating as Kovach also
attributes to being more in line with a tribal epistemology (2009, p.123).
The Chiefs were given a letter of introduction to the study, the consent form, and the
Storytelling / Questionnaire form. I read the form with them at the beginning of the meeting to
ensure that they understood the process. The Chiefs could review the questions and ask me
questions if they so wished. Each woman reviewed the questions and they could use the
questions to guide their stories. No questions were asked. The questions while specific were
open-ended to allow each co-researcher an opportunity to tell her story according to her
recollection and the sense she has made of her own life. The questions were qualitative in nature
to allow for discussion analysis and did not rely on numbers or complex calculations.
The amount of time the Chief spent with me also produced a more relaxed process. This
was done at their invitation. Although two Chiefs spent a whole day or overnight with me I was
still limited in the scope of information shared. They also gave me the opportunity to see their
home and or workspace during the longer visits. This was insightful and also a very trusting
mode of communication and relationship building which Wilson (2008, p.128) and Kovach value
about Indigenous methodology (2009, p. 126). Like Wilson notes about the research process, I
wished that I had taken the opportunity to take better notes or even videotape our interviews as

52

well rather than just voice record them (2008, p. 128). I wanted to be as unobtrusive as possible
with my interviews and did so by recording the interviews.
I asked to begin using my voice recorder. The voice recorder ran the length of our
interview and only two participants asked to not record a section because they felt that it was
only for my information that they share more about a certain issue or context. This was done at
their request. When they were ready, we began recording again. These audio files are stored on
the recorder and kept in a locked file cabinet. I used the recordings for my transcriptions. I took
notes as well for some interviews where it seemed less intrusive. As an active listener, I tried
very hard to listen to the stories these without interrupting the storyteller (Kovach, 2009, p. 125).
I have also left out my questions from the transcripts like Cruikshank did in Life Lived Like A
Story (1990, p. 19).
Including their verbatim text is important to me because I did not want to leave their
words out and to allow others to get the lessons out of their words that may be different for them.
I will add the stories of my participants to the project in whole as part of my project (appendices)
thus keeping their stories intact and in conformity to the standards of qualitative and Indigenous
research that are set out by Fixico (2003), Wilson (2008), Kirkness & Barnhardt (2001), and
Clandinin & Connelly (2000).
Chase (2005) describes contemporary as an “amalgam of interdisciplinary analytic
lenses, diverse disciplinary approaches, and both traditional and innovative methods- all
revolving around an interest in biographical particulars as narrated by the one who lives them”
(P. 651). It was my intent to have the women Chiefs tell their stories in their own words and
Figure 1 will show that in the analysis. Wilson (2008) also states that while he did not use “one
specific research method” but rather chose to “develop a general strategy” to get allow for

53

adaptation and change through his research and so he used a combination of methods (p. 40).
Like Wilson, I chose to become a participant observer without realizing that the work prior to my
taking on this research was as useful as it was in becoming a relational process that would assist
me when scheduling meetings, doing the research, and analysing of the data from the transcripts.
It was a more Indigenous way of doing the research as determined by Wilson (2008, p. 40).
Wilson also states that by critiquing or justifying his paradigms would be disempowering
Indigenous research and does “not appreciate being told which paradigms and tools” can or
cannot be used in his research and wishes to not do that to others (2008, p. 42). I can appreciate
that but also found that Voyageur’s methodology was also helpful as she conducted interviews,
which was how I conducted my interviews (2008, p. 15-16).
The verbatim translation was tedious work but it was also helpful because I became
immersed in the conversation and the cadence of their voices and our shared laughter. I chose to
keep my comments or questions out of the transcripts and instead favoured their words and
leadership stories and their lessons. These will be added to the project in the appendices section.
When the transcribed documents were done, I sent the participants copies via their work
or personal emails for vetting. I have not heard from the four co-researchers who make up this
project but did hear from one who asked to be taken out of the project as her life situation had
changed and she wished to not have her name associated with the project. I deleted her work and
her contribution to this project but still thank her nonetheless for her experience and service.
To conclude the research process, I have included a photograph. These photographs have
reminded me of those women I have asked to share their story with me and of my relationship
with them over time and space, as Wilson (2008) states about relationality (p. 80) and its

54

importance in research conducted as ceremony. They will also assist others in making a
connection with them based on the photograph and to also identify them should they meet them.
I am a Master’s student working on a complex project that is based on two traditions and
working between two ways of learning and knowing. Restoule (2005) described Indigenous
methods as incorporating experiential learning where the participant is fully engaged. The
method, the actual technique of data collection, is respectful of and includes Indigenous
protocols, values, and beliefs that are important to the specific community. This was the process
I used to describe in the methodology section.
Charts
The academic findings are laid out in a chart to fulfill the quantitative nature of the
colonial academic system and as much I wanted to tell a story I have had to find a way to fulfill
the standard research process and as Kovach (2009) states, this is the effect of colonialism has on
Indigenous methodology and she admits the balance can be tough as “we are all colonized” (p.
152). This was a very challenging process for a few reasons. I did not think of using a software
program to analyze the data. I had to manually transcribe my participant’s stories and the process
was very time consuming and also because of the turmoil I was experiencing at the time I was
suffering mentally, emotionally and physically. I originally completed five transcriptions. I sent
them to each participant but never heard back on any edits or changes. I then sat down to begin a
series of haphazard data analysis until getting firm direction on a thematic analysis process for
the four transcripts that make up this project during a 1-hour meeting with a new supervisor (date
unknown). In 2015, one participant contacted me and she asked to be removed from the study
because her life situation had changed (Anonymous participant, personal communication,

55

September 2015). It was not until July 2017 that I finally understood the data analysis process
and could do the work because of an Excel nightmare I had while working on my data.
The findings of the research are organized into the charts that present the data derived
from the quotes of the Yukon women Chiefs, codes derived from the quotes, and overall themes
identified (See Figure 1). The quotes come first because those are the basis of my data analysis
and they exist because of the research participants and their leadership stories. Next are my codes
that are short phrases or a single word that sums up the quote. The themes are used to identify
what the quote means and Saldaña (2013) states that this can be at “the manifest level (directly
observable in the information) or at the latent level (underlying the phenomenon)” (p. 267).
My original process as I had intended to insert the whole interview into the data analysis
portion and allow the Chiefs to speak for themselves and not take away anything of their stories
or as stated by Chief Doris McLean when she stated within her story that in previous interviews
“many of the lessons had been taken [edited] away”. Leaving the stories whole is a more
Indigenous way to tell stories and present the work according to Kovach (2009) who cites Laara
Fitznor (p. 131-132). Lavallée (2009) also echoed this struggle of being Indigenous focussed
and using the colonial academic structure within her doctorate research project (p. 34). The
conclusion to my research questions is reached by using the most poignant themes for the
answers. A shared story emerges from their respective responses.
Codes
The analysis in this process was unconventional and entirely unique. It was completed in
a multi-step process. I completed a descriptive coding process; a close analysis of each sentence
or paragraph in the transcribed story told to me by the participants, to assign the codes and
themes. The codes were used to narrow down the themes in the interviews. The codes I was able

56

to put together that related sentences to form a paragraph thus reducing the number of false
occurrences. This also helped me to understand the importance of themes for each answer given
by the participants.
In trying to understand the qualitative aspects of my data analysis, I created Excel work
sheets for data analysis including codes, themes, and identifying key quotes that would go
towards answering the 4 key questions which would answer the overall research question. The
number of times the code was identified was counted and added up. The final number was
charted. The highest number of occurrences was tallied. The analyzed transcribed quotes were
assigned to determine the overall importance per participant.
The codes were assigned to each quote identified. The codes come from a common-sense
approach to the themes. The codes were assigned a numerical value of 1 to 15. The most
important theme that had the highest number of occurrences in the data determined their
importance in the analysis.
Themes
In what started out as a descriptive coding themes (Saldaña, 2013, p.262) as described
above are made up according to my own understanding of the phrase or sentence and are unique.
I had a common sense understanding of the language and terms I assigned to make up the
themes. I was given samples and had to figure out how to do the work to get to the end using the
samples given. I managed to do it in steps and by trial and error.
From the close analysis, I came up with 15 overarching themes from the four transcribed
stories. They are biographical information; geographical information; importance of
family/community relationality/relationship building; political influences; their political career;
political documents/Government policy; leadership/government issues; colonization and its

57

effects; education; the importance of language/culture/traditions; storytelling/lessons/teachings;
research process/Indigenous methodology; emotions; and spirituality.
To further synthesize the themes, I combined the like topics identified by the codes and
this meant that Biographical information, importance of family/community,
relationality/relationship building and geographical information could be combined to form a
Biographical Information theme. Biographical information refers to personal information and
stories of the participants, their extended family and community members, the stated
relationships between the participants and their community or territory or country and how those
relationships are built up through their familial or political networking opportunities and also the
important geographical information they’ve shared whether it be their home, their territory,
places they’ve travelled to or have identified some significance to through their work. This is
where the personal side of the participants are revealed.
Under Education, I combined the codes for the importance of language/culture/traditions;
education; storytelling/lessons/teachings; and the research process that they referenced in the
transcripts. Education covered experiential and academic learning as well. The storytelling
included the lessons, and cultural teachings they shared or were shared with them in their lives.
Political Career combines their political influences; political career; political
documents/government policy; and their leadership and government issues; and colonization and
its effects were all identified in their transcripts. Their political career was very important and
this showed in the analysis.
The remaining themes were unique. Spirituality was important to all of them but to
varying degrees and this seemed important to note, as it was one of the lowest number of
occurrences within the analysis.

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The remaining theme is Emotion. The amount of emotion observed and noted was
striking in the transcription process. The overall emotion was one of laughter. This is somewhat
typical of Indigenous cultures and to Indigenous women especially. Although this is an aspect of
Emotion coding, it did make an impact on the transcripts.
Ethics and Protocol
Who owns this research? This question came in a dream and that I say this is further
evidence that my research does centre the value of Anishnaabek beliefs and my reality. Kathy
Absolon (2011, p.12), Michael Hart (2010, p. 10), reference dreams and Kovach cites dreams as
an “inward knowing” (2009, p. 126-127). This dream shows that I do have this knowledge inside
and Kovach states “Graham Smith maintains that it is clear that there should be no need to justify
them” (as cited in Kovach 2009, p. 127). This research will belong to the women Chiefs, first
and foremost, to their communities, and to UNBC and me. Academic protocols and ethics have
also been a part of this project from the beginning of the research process to its completion as I
received a UNBC Research Ethics Board review. I have kept my interviews, paperwork and
notes in a secured filing cabinet and have kept my written work in a password-protected
computer.
As per the Traditional Knowledge Research Guidelines (Council of Yukon First Nations,
2000), I sent each participant a copy of the transcribed transcripts via her email address. I did not
receive any other correspondence from the participants.
In line with reciprocity and the axiology of critical theory and constructivism, the Yukon
women Chiefs who shared their leadership perspectives and experiences have been ethically
treated. They were given an opportunity to tell their story in their way, and acknowledged as the
foundation for this research.

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In Nishnaube tradition, as well as in other Indigenous traditions, protocol and ethics are
vital to ensuring that ceremonies and gatherings are honourable, respectful, and done with
integrity (Kovach, 2009, p. 127). Nishnaube teachings and ceremonies are a major part of who I
am. This ensures that my journey is as safe and is respectful to all levels of Creation. My
personal ethics also means that I have prayed for guidance, asked permission of my research
participants to enter their traditional territory and into their lives. I have offered gifts and
honorarium in an appropriate manner as understood by both Yukon and Nishnaube worldviews
and will gift them further when I complete this work and present it to them and their
communities. I listened, learned, and shared these stories with respect, reciprocity, responsibility
and relationship (Kirkness & Barnhardt, 2001). “Overall, protocol is about respect,” states
Kovach and it is the basis of my work and my purpose for dancing (2009, p.127).
As an Indigenous woman, researcher, and bundle holder I have responsibilities beyond
those of my University of Northern British Columbia research ethics requirements. I am
accountable to the Yukon First Nations leaders and community members, researchers who have
contributed to my way of knowing, to my Nishnaube community, and my family and friends.
Throughout this Master’s program I have engaged in cultural, spiritual, emotional, and physical
activities and ceremonies. By tending these four quadrants associated with the medicine wheel
teachings, my research approach was done in a balanced way utilizing all the methodologies and
teachings I have learnt so far. I had no wish to be seen as conducting “dirty” research by the
Yukon First Nations women chiefs, the Yukon communities, or by own community (L.T. Smith,
1999, p. 1).

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Conclusion: Tying the saubaubeehnse
While the process of decolonization is a hard concept to implement in the academy and in
our daily lives, Indigenous people must persist in their attempts. This methodology supports the
voices of the four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs as their words can be heard as jingles on
the ziibaaska'iganagooday. This research does build on the Indigenous research of Indigenous
academic leaders who have been working to decolonize the academic processes that make this
project possible.
This chapter discussed Anishnaabek ethics and protocols, discussed the methods used,
described the methodology and an Indigenous framework. I am always learning to sew and it is
hoped that this interfacing adds to the structure of the Indigenous framework. The ribbons lay
flat and the jingle tie tabs are ready to hold the tin cones that will sound as the dress is danced in
the next chapter.

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Chapter 4: Research Findings
Niiwin – Beboong
Four- Winter
In Beboong, the snows come hard and fast to the Yukon landscape and the salmon
season is finished for another year. A time for rest has come to the earth. In Anishnaabek culture
as in Yukon First Nations, beboong is a time for stories to be told. Stories with women’s voices
can be informative, helpful, healing, and powerful on many levels. Nishnaubeg scholar Leanne
Simpson (2011) stated:
Storytelling is at its core decolonizing, because it is a process of remembering, visioning
and creating a just reality where Nishnaubeg live as both Nishnaubeg and peoples.
Storytelling then becomes a lens through which we can envision our way out of cognitive
imperialism, where we can create models and mirrors where non existed, and where can
experience the spaces of freedom and justice. Storytelling becomes a space where we can
escape the gaze and the cage of the Empire, even if it just for a few minutes (pp.33-34).
Beboong is also the time when projects like sewing regalia are completed. For this
research project, the seamstress painstakingly sews down the ribbon bias tape onto the skirt.
They will form four circles when the skirt is sewn together and this depicts the leadership
journey of each woman chief in this project. The bias tape is sewn onto the floral fabric laying a
pattern on the pressed cloth. The bias tape tabs on the ziibaaska'iganagooday signify the results
of the content analysis from the oral histories of four Yukon women chiefs and their shared
leadership perspectives. The data analysis portion of my research is discussed in this chapter
including the overall themes and a discussion of the top five results with specific quotes to
outline the answers to the research questions. As Voyageur (2008, p.48) asked about
demographics so did I because the question provides important information about the participant.
The open-ended question provides the co-researcher the opportunity to share as little or as much

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as they wish. My wish was not to intrude in their lives but to get them to open up. I gained a lot
of personal information and this assisted with the rich oral history narratives and also was a
reason why biographical information would become such a common theme in their individual
interviews.
Qualitative Analysis
The many approaches to qualitative inquiry and research design while baffling, as noted
by Creswell (2007) in the introduction to Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design, are helpful
when learning how to piece together a project. Creswell highlights five most frequently seen
approaches (p. 9). Creswell (2007) also points out that beginner researchers should choose one
approach. I have chosen to do an Indigenous methodology that focuses on the importance of
narrative inquiry and oral histories as a way to tell the leadership stories of these Yukon women
Chiefs and also to be more culturally appropriate and take on the role of a storyteller and dancer
as Wilson (2008) has with his work.
Indigenous people in Canada recognize that it is important for storytellers to impart their
own life and experience into the telling. They also recognize that listeners will filter the
story being told through their own experience and thus adapt the information to make it
relevant and specific to their life. When listeners know where the storyteller is coming
from and how the story fits into the storyteller’s life, it makes the absorption of the
knowledge that much easier (Wilson, 2008, p. 32).
I believe that this is why the findings have to be more narrative than quantitative but I do
respect the need to show the results of my work as well as be able to discuss the work, the
findings, and its implications.
To work with the settler academic tradition and the insistence that quantitative research
methods be observed the academic findings are laid out in a chart. This was a very challenging
process for a few reasons. The main reason being that in my mental fog and stress, I did not think

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of using a software program to analyze the data. I manually transcribed my participant’s stories
and the process was very time consuming because of the turmoil I was experiencing at the time. I
originally completed five transcriptions. I sent them to each participant but never heard back on
any edits or changes. I attempted a series of haphazard data analysis methods until getting firm
direction on a thematic analysis process for the four transcripts that make up this project during a
one-hour meeting with my supervisor, Dr. Kitchenham. In 2015, one participant contacted me
and she asked to be removed from the study because her life situation had changed (Anonymous
participant, personal communication, September 2015). It was not until July 2017 that I finally
understood the data analysis process and could do the work because of an Excel nightmare I had
while working on my data themes.
Data Analysis Chart
The findings of the research were identified through the analysis of the codes. The codes
are shown along with the total number of occurrences, and a poignant quote was chosen that best
illustrated the theme (see Figure 1). The collected data in the transcribed interviews of the four
Yukon First Nation women Chiefs are included in their entirety in the appendices. While my
analysis process of discovery was a unique thematic analysis I found common codes that
emerged within the transcripts. What is important to each Yukon woman Chief was ranked to
ascertain commonalities and variances that helped identify the themes. What follows is the
application of the qualitative data to the Indigenous framework and specifically how I have
applied the codes to the ziibaaska'iganagooday through the bias tape tabs that will be the link
between the leadership paths and the sharing of the leadership stories of four Yukon First
Nations women Chiefs.

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Pinching the Tin Jingles on the Tabs
The bias tape tabs that are attached to the ziibaaska'iganagooday signify the various codes
that have emerged in the data analysis. When the tin jingles are laid side by side they form a
pattern on each bias tape ribbon already sewn onto the dress skirt in 4 separate lines on the front
and back skirt pieces. The seamstress takes a bias tape tab and knots an end and then slips a tin
jingle onto the tab and pinches the cone on the knotted end of the bias tape tab.
The data analysis in this process was unconventional and entirely unique. It was
completed in a multi-step process. I completed a close analysis of each sentence or related
paragraph to assign the codes. The codes come from a common-sense approach to transcripts and
assigned to the themes. The codes were used to narrow down the themes in the interviews. The
sentences and related paragraphs were grouped together to make up key quotes to illustrate the
themes. The number of times the theme was identified was counted and added up. The highest
number of occurrences was tallied. The transcribed quotes were ranked to determine the overall
importance per participant. The codes were assigned a numerical value of 1 to 15. The following
chart provides examples of this quantitative research analysis. The codes, themes, total
occurrences and quotes from the Yukon First Nations women Chiefs have been used to highlight
the themes as shown in Table 1.

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Table 1
Data Analysis Results of Interviews Categorized by Theme, Codes, Total Number of Codes, and
Sample Quote
Total
Number
370

Theme

Codes

Political
Career
and
Political Life

Leadership/ Governance Issues
Political Influences Political
Career
Political Documents
Government Policy
Colonization and its effects

Education is
experiential
and academic

Education
Importance of
Language/Culture/Tradition
Storytelling
Lessons
Teachings
Research process

195

Biographical
Information

Biographical Information
Family/Community Relationality/
Relationship Building
Geographical Information

190

Spirituality

Indigenous protocols Methodology
Decolonization Reconciliation

20

"Besides, spirituality is education, it
Is to bring our people forward and
to run our self-government and to
bring spirituality forward" said
Chief McLean.

Emotion

Emotion Observed Identified

16

"I’ve been away (visibly shaken in
her voice and body) from my
family, and children" said Chief
Kassi.

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Sample Quote
"It’s still a boy’s club. I am of the
mind that we need to get things
done. I do call them on it and say
we need to get things done, quit
being an ass. It may be political
suicide but they expect me to be the
one who puts them back in their
place or correct them" said Chief
Alatini.
"You know the news was important,
the newspaper. Anything to do with
Indian land claims he pointed out
and made me read it. I was 11/12
years old and had to read the
newspaper and it was important to
him and of course anything to do
with Dave Joe, Chief Paul Birkel,
anybody, Elijah Smith, anything to
do with my own First Nation, it was
almost like a quiz, you needed to
know this, you had to know about
these people" said Chief Strand.
"I had a huge family. I am not
kidding when I say that I am related
to half of the Yukon. I literally am"
said Chief Alatini.

Themes
In what started out as a sentence-by-sentence word analysis that was later broken into
major themes, the themes are made up according to my own understanding and are unique. I did
not have a lot of research experience in thematic analysis so have used a common sense
understanding of the language and terms I assigned to make up the codes. I was given coding
samples and figured out how to do the work to get to the end using the samples given. I managed
to do it in steps and by trial and error.
From the analysis, I came up with 15 overarching themes from the four transcribed
stories. They are: biographical information; geographical information; political influences;
education; the importance of language/culture/traditions; their political career;
leadership/government issues; political documents/Government policy; importance of
family/community; colonization and its effects; relationality/relationship building;
storytelling/lessons/teachings; research process/indigenous methodology; emotions; and
spirituality. These 15 overarching themes there were further reduced to five themes.
The four participants who shared their personal narrative histories with me for this
project commonly held five themes. These themes were Biographical information, Education,
Political Career, Spirituality and Emotion (see Table 1). I will discuss these in a more specific
manner in the following paragraphs.
The transcribed quotes were ranked to determine the overall importance per participant.
The codes were assigned a numerical value of 1 to 15. Table 1 provides examples of this
quantitative research analysis. The themes, codes, total number of occurrences and sample
quotes from the Yukon First Nations women Chiefs have been used to highlight the themes as
shown in Table 1.

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Overall Themes
Each participant’s story had these five themes identified within the completed content
analysis. The themes seem appropriate given the questions asked within the
interview/storytelling guide. The participants mentioned theme one, Political career, most often.
The codes included examples and experiences related to their leadership development,
employment, campaigns, and elections, the General Assemblies and about their public life,
which made up the codes. The second theme was the Biographical Information they shared
throughout their oral histories. The codes included their name, date of birth, parents, siblings,
aunts, uncles, grandparents, grandchildren, clan, ancestry, and general life experiences like
raising their children or the death of their loved ones. Education was the third theme identified
by all participants. This was unexpected because it was not a direct question in the
questionnaire/storytelling guide (see Appendix A). The codes here related to the academic and
experiential learning, the memories and the lessons those provided, the ideas of reconciliation
and decolonization, and the importance of Yukon First Nations languages and culture, and
heritage and ceremonies. The fourth theme participants identified was about Spirituality. The
codes included speaking about their spirituality and religious exposure, about Indigenous
ceremonies, prayers, and traditional medicines. The fifth theme participants spoke about and
expressed in the interview process was Emotion. The emotions noted ranged from being near
tears and being visibly shaken with emotion to loud laughter.
Specific quotes pulled from the data analysis to illustrate the top five themes also address
the research questions and it is interesting to note that the answers do fit the questions. This is
presented next and is represented on the ziibaaska'iganagooday. Each bias tape ribbons hold the
jingles (themes) for each woman and while they are separate they do sound together and they tell

68

a shared story. This shared narrative will be summarized in the next chapter when with the first
steps of the ziibaaska'iganagooday dance begins.
Theme 1: Political career. Political career was rated by 3 of 4 participants as being a
prevalent theme in their interviews (see Figure 1). Their political career was a key question in the
questionnaire/ storytelling guide. Chief McLean shared more about her political career and the
leadership/government issues, biographical information and about colonization and its effects.
I have taken the most important themes from each story and will present them for each
chief. Where they overlap, I will add their key quotes on this theme.
Theme 2: Biographical information. The initial question asked was for the Chiefs to
identify themselves and they often gave more information than I had initially expected. The
participants peppered this information throughout their stories and often it was mixed in with
other items, which resulted in two or three themes being assigned to the same quote if it was
equally weighted. Chief Diane Strand spoke more about the biographical data and biographical
information accounts for almost half of her interview.
Theme 3: Education. While the Education theme was in the middle range of numerical
ranking all four participants held it at the same level of importance. Education meant academic
education in a colonial sense or in a Yukon First Nations sense of experiential, non-interference,
and traditional way of learning. Education is identified or implied by way of a teacher and a
learner relationship or learning from a place on the Anishnaabe Medicine Wheel where it is as a
child, youth, adult or Elder. The Chiefs also directly spoke about Post-Secondary, College, High
School and Elementary School experiences. They also spoke about their experiential learning
opportunities, about doing homework, studying, giving or taking advice or getting traditional
teachings offered by traditional knowledge holders in their community or family.

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Theme 4: Spirituality. The two lower themes were something unexpected in the data
analysis. There was no question that addressed this topic but the instances of spirituality,
religion, spirits, angels, and to a Creator were evident in their transcripts. Yukon First Nations
have been exposed to their own beliefs and to the colonizer’s religious ideology from
Missionaries, various denominations of religious orders. This topic occurred about 20 times
during their narratives.
Theme 5: Emotion. This theme struck me the most because of the energy that was
expended during these interviews by the participants. There was a lot of laughter, some tears, and
thoughtful quiet time as well. Respect was shown by being just as vulnerable and open and also
by remaining quiet during the tears and near tears. By checking in immediately after the
interview I assured the participants wellness. The emotions made the four Chiefs very
approachable and personable.
The themes identified above are discussed in the short narratives below.
Women Chiefs’ Leadership Perspectives
In trying to find the best way to share these themes I asked myself, do I provide rich
descriptive narratives and present the work using my voice and their quotes to provide a richer
and more complete data analysis or do I simply input the qualitative charts, which sum up their
leadership perspectives. I decided that a combination of the two ways was in keeping with
walking both ways as discussed in the literature review.
The following narratives are written drawing on the codes and themes and using the
poignant quotes that were illustrated in Table 1. These narratives are richer and are more in line
with the narrative inquiry method and storytelling method I am using as an Indigenous researcher
and are much more in line with my Anishnaabek culture. The application of an Indigenous lens

70

to conduct the research process and my decision to present the findings according to the
Anishnaabe Medicine Wheel follows (Bopp et al, 1989).
The commonalities were very straightforward since they all came from a specific
geographical and political region. I met with four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs from the
four directions in the Yukon. Geographically speaking, these four Yukon First Nations represent
cardinal directions like those identified in the Anishnaabe Medicine Wheel. They are from Old
Crow; the most northern community; Burwash Landing next in Kluane is the furthest West;
followed by Haines Junction in Champagne Aishihik, the most easterly community; and in the
south, is the community of Carcross in Carcross/Tagish traditional territory. Interestingly; the
Champagne Aishihik and Carcross/ Tagish share an overlapping traditional territory as identified
in the Land Claim Agreements and are subject to negotiation by each Yukon First Nation
(Canada & Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 2008, p.19). These women are a part of the
Yukon traditional social pattern (Cruikshank, 1990) that includes coming from different bands
(p. 175) and from two clans (or moiety), crows or wolves; and also identified by crests like
McLean who is killer whale from Carcross Tagish Yukon First Nation which is shown on their
clothing, “blankets and banners, using beads, pearl buttons, or colored cloth” (Cruikshank, 1990,
p. 181). This affirms my use of regalia as a way to tell the leadership perspectives of these
Chiefs, matriarchs and ladies of high esteem. Strand was very proud of being Southern Tutchone
and also acknowledges her Tlingit heritage as well. Each Chief differs in their advice to the
youth. As a leader who has never missed a General Assembly, Strand asks that youth get
involved in politics, because she recognizes its importance. McLean stresses that parents with
babies are to raise their children before getting involved in politics because that is the most
important relationship. This lesson is something that Chief Kassi also learned, noting the time

71

she spent away from her family while pursuing politics has had a stressful impact on her
relationship with her kids and that now she’s doing things differently for her grandchildren’s
sake. The leadership paths for these women span their entire lives from being raised in a political
home; joining politics at a young age, to being employed within all levels of government, to
becoming Chiefs of their self-governing Yukon First Nation and to joining partisan politics.
They range in age from a young mid age Chief with young children to an Elder who is still
actively involved in the community and political scene. Self-government history also played a
large role in their leadership development from children listening to their grandparents or their
parents. The familial relationship was also heavily featured in their interviews, as they often
identified fathers, mothers, uncles and other male chiefs as role models that they have watched.
They have all been recognized in their communities and in the Yukon and Canadian
governments for their contribution to the Yukon First Nations women’s history of the Yukon.
These commonalities add to the rich data that they provided in their individual stories.
Their individual stories also highlight the paths that led them to their leadership position
with their Yukon First Nation whether it was on purpose by running for an election or whether it
be by meeting an expectation or as a further stepping stone in a rising political career or simply
as a job one is qualified to do. The leadership path shown by these women has been with purpose
whether their choices, their parents, grandparents, family, their clans, employers, and/or larger
Yukon population supported it. The individual stories are rich in detail. Below is a sample of
what is found in the four women Chief’s transcripts based on the themes found in the analysis
namely, political career, education, biographical information, spirituality and emotion.

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Chief Mathei’ya Alatini, Kluane First Nation
Chief Alatini asked to meet before attending a quarterly Chiefs meeting in Whitehorse,
Yukon after which she would leave to return to Burwash Landing which is a three hour drive
northwest along the Alaska Highway. I anxiously arrived half an hour early and sat in the lobby
of the Gold Rush Inn in Whitehorse; Yukon’s capital and the location of government offices. I
sat in the lobby waiting and watched as she arrived. I reviewed my interview questions and
thought of how I had first heard her speak at the Council of Yukon First Nations Annual General
Meeting. I was excited to meet her. She rushed into the restaurant. I followed after her. She
laughed at her eagerness before I turned on the recorder. This morning we sat down for a light
breakfast and tea and began our conversation as the morning rush began in the restaurant. “I
don’t normally eat breakfast but drink lots of coffee,” she said ordering coffee as she sat down. I
began our interview by reviewing the questions with her. She chose to go through the interview
in the order it was laid out in the questionnaire that was not what I had expected.
Math’ieya Alatini grew up in Burwash Landing in a cabin and shared some of her family
memories from that time noting her large family. Moving from Vancouver and Victoria to the
village of Burwash in her youth was mirrored by her move back when she was elected chief.
I had to go to school here in Whitehorse when I was 14. My mom was living out in
Burwash and so I’ve been pretty much on my own since I was 14. I realized that being
here there is too much, the drug scene is harsh- most 14-year olds were getting drunk
most of the time – drug abuse is pretty hard here [in the Yukon]. Drinking and drugs, all
the time. It was too much for me.
Self-awareness and self-preservation are leadership traits she demonstrates and shows in
the face of potential addictions and precarious pitfalls. As a young teenager, she managed to
avoid these situations by moving herself to Victoria to complete her education with the full
support of her mother and father. This contrast of urban and rural settings plays a role in each

73

Chiefs understanding of themselves and their communities as well because this affects the social
fabric of their lives and that of their citizens.
I had a huge family. I am not kidding when I say that I am related to half of the Yukon. I
literally am. You kinda are pigeonholed into a group by association. So I took off. I left
and did my grade 12 in Victoria [B.C]. I stayed there from 16 to 25 years of age and then
came back [to the Yukon] in the summers. We moved here for two to three years and
then moved to Vancouver. So we spent a lot of time away. Burwash has always been
home.
Part of her biographical information is revealed above and is entwined with the value of
education playing a role in her decisions to move when she states:
I am not going to survive if I stay here. There was a huge rate of suicide in the two years I
was in school as four of my friends committed suicide. I decided that this was not where I
wanted to be. And my mom said, “you are going to finish high school, you are going to
university, and you are not coming out.” It was an expectation. I don’t usually let her
down. I try to anyways.
Alatini’s personal development and leadership development includes a firm sense of
home; Burwash Landing, and the family that she is related to in the Yukon. As a child, her
family and their connections to the political scene in the Yukon influenced her. Within that circle
of influence, she included her mom, her father, her grandfather Joe Joe, other male Chiefs like
Chief Elijah Smith, former Yukon Premier Tony Penniket, and other notable leaders who would
later become colleagues in her political career.
In my younger years, I was raised around land claims. My mom was not actively
involved because she had three young kids but was definitely in the circle. We use to go
to Indian Days. I remember these political leaders always being around and listening to
them talk about land claims and always had passionate discussions about politics.
Alatini explains further how the land claims became engrained in the hearts and minds of
young political minds like her own.
I was born in 1972 so the Indian Movement started in 1973 here [in Yukon] with
Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow. “Let’s go to Ottawa!” they’d say and all of
those people [who travelled to Ottawa] are still around. Throughout my childhood… you

74

listened to the impassioned speeches of leaders saying, “We have a right to govern our
land, a right to see our own destiny and to be here for our people and ensure the land is
here for our children.” And that message becomes engrained.
Indian politics on a national front began to take hold in the Yukon and this marked the
beginning of the Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow (Council for Yukon Indians.,
1973) era in Yukon Indian politics. Alatini is keenly aware of the gendered nature of politics but
this does not stop her at all.
It’s still a boys club. I am of the mind that we need to get things done. I do call them out
on it and say we need to get things done, quit being an ass. It may be political suicide but
they expect me to be the one who puts them back in their place or correct them.
To further illustrate her awareness Alatini brings out points in her life where she is
determined to overcome and to win even though it may not be popular for her to do so. It is her
laughter and self-deprecation that is captured in this quote that depicts the sense of emotion that
was brought out in this short interview. “Did I tell you that I was little bit stubborn, holy, how
about tonnes! [Laughs.]” It was the look in her eye that made this moment memorable as well as
the peppered laughter in the interview process.
I did not find a clear example of spirituality in her transcription as it related to Indigenous
protocols, methodology, decolonization or reconciliation. Although it can be said that perhaps
the passion she discussed while sharing a story about following ones’ passion could be an
example of spirituality.
Chief Math’ieya Alatini left me in the busy restaurant as quickly as she arrived. As I sat
reviewing my notes, I could hear our laughter above the morning crowd. The bustle of the
morning service hummed in the background with the clatter of cutlery and the clinking of glasses
full of juice or porcelain mugs. I watched as she got into her vehicle and pulled away from the

75

curb and disappeared down Main Street in Whitehorse. Chief Alatini was since re-elected for a
second term. Alatini is now a Cabinet minister within the Yukon Government.

Chief Doris McLean, Carcross Tagish First Nation
I was determined to get this interview because Doris McLean had been identified by three
of the Yukon First Nations Chiefs I spoke to about my project but only one of them agreed to
being interviewed. I tracked Doris McLean all over Whitehorse from Tim Horton’s to the High
Country Inn where she sat in a room with over 300 people! I stood in the back of the Conference
Centre and recognized many faces from the Association of Friendship Centres Annual General
Meeting on July 30th, 2012. I listened to the opening prayer while scanning the room for Doris
McLean. She was sitting in the back of the room. After the prayer was completed I shyly
introduced myself to her.
“That’s guidance. I was sitting in the front and I got a coffee and sat in the back after
lunch. I moved from one place cause I wasn’t comfortable and moved here,” she said to me,
moving to stand up. She grabbed her belongings after agreeing to join me for our talk. The
lessons began immediately and I knew that this interview was one that would continue to teach
others and me long after I had completed it.
McLean began teaching me and she showed how important education was to her and she
practiced this skill throughout our interview that day.
“Before we get into this and we get to know each other, have a cup of coffee. I learnt that
from my older sister” she said. She sat across from me and shared a story that speaks about the
value of meeting and sharing food and in the end stated that the relationship is the most
important part of the lesson. “So you know, that was the opportunity to learn that you can’t just

76

come in and start interviewing. You know what I mean. Telling you something you learn for the
rest of your life,” she said looking at me with much directness. I could only nod in agreement.
McLean believes in education and showed this in her own experience but also within her
family, her work experiences and by supporting others and their personal growth through
education. “It’s more Indigenous just to talk and listen and share - us just sharing and talking
about leadership,” she states. She was also getting at a criticism of the academic and research
process when she continued to say:
That’s much more than an anthropologist breezing into town, paying you 50 cents and
they summarize it and this is what it meant. This anthropologist comes in and says,
“These mountains what do they mean to you?” to this old Elder. He looks at that
mountain and it means, they are just mountains! “What does it mean to you?” he says.
[Laughs.]
The humour she shows is evident in this example as well. This was a measure of her
sharpness of mind and how she uses story to illustrate a point that takes a jab at education,
research and researchers.
McLean was also just as pointed with how she viewed her time in office and in her
dealings with the citizens, the Yukon Government, and Canadian officials as well. She has the
most political experiences based on the length of her political involvement and the number of
years she has been involved with Yukon self government negotiations, as Chief, and in her other
political roles as a board member, president, and legislative representative. McLean was a
trendsetter and she was determined to be at the front of the pack when it came to Yukon selfgovernment.
The administration and council had a lot of overlap and the individuals didn’t know
policies, administration, and blamed the chief [when] that had nothing to do with the
chief. So when I started, I took a look at the First Nation and found out the worker that
worked with land claim - that the main focus was settling land claims and one individual
in the office and who didn’t even file their papers. It was all in boxes. 18 years in boxes. I

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decided that Carcross First Nations needed a land claims office. That got set up with a
staff of its own with a coordinator and a staff was hired. All the papers went into files and
filing and our maps were organized. We did land claim negotiations. We were front and
center.
McLean’s interview was a rich data mine of information that was useful for this type of
data analysis. It became clear to me that I had to respect her wishes for me to keep all of her
lessons in this work. This was partially why I have chosen to highlight their key quotes in this
manner. By answering the research questions with their answers, I am honouring their words and
their lessons and their life experiences. This is a much more Indigenous way to tell their story.
Sometimes your thoughts get wound up. It’s been many years since I’ve been a Chief. I
found that one of the most heart-wrenching jobs. To me, it was a job I got. I applied for
the job, I was interviewed, and I got the job. I was qualified for the job. I knew that.
McLean also acknowledges that her sister; Shirley McLean, was her reason for becoming
Chief of Carcross Tagish First Nation.
I became a Chief because of my older sister, Shirley, who was going to run for Chief. She
lived in Mayo and wanted to get out of Mayo. This was in 1988-87. She was thinking
about it. A lot of people were thinking about it too because she was well liked. In
February of that year she had an aneurism. She ended up in the hospital, paralyzed, and
couldn’t speak, nothing. And when I went to visit her, I kept thinking, that people when
they realized she wasn’t going to be their chief, they started looking at me. You know
hinting. I had a perfectly good job. I had no intention whatsoever of running. Then at the
time got closer to the fact, I thought to myself; I went over and thought about it for a
while. My sister, this was 1988 spring. I was in Vancouver with her. I was with her and I
get this phone call from an Elder in Carcross saying, “You know; Doris, we want you to
be our chief, we need someone, we want someone honest. That really knows how to do
things. Would you consider this?” And I thought, “Well, I will think about it.” I kept
getting these calls. “Well, okay, I will, I will run.”
McLean was not only clear about why she decided to run for office but also about the
value of spirituality. She weaves this lesson into her view of education as well.
There are two ways of learning, book learning and acquired knowledge. Most of our
people have acquired knowledge and if our people put it to good use in an honest way

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they will strive forward n move forward and bring their children. Besides spirituality is
education is to bring our people forward and to run our self-government and to bring
spirituality forward. We are not to forget our roots. Where we come from. Who we are.
My dad use to say before you [move] forward, you have to know where you come from.
And I think that is good advice.
Chief Doris McLean looked at her clock. “Thank you” she said and reached over to me
and brought me towards her. She kissed my cheek. “I was gonna spend the whole day with the
Friendship Centre but I spent it with you” she said. It was an honour to spend the whole day
with Chief Doris McLean. I turned off the voice recorder when asked to and was given other
teachings about the value of relationships, about leadership, and about life in general. I sat with
her holding her hands and found out that she was going shopping with my dear friends’ mom –
another powerful woman leader. Chief McLean passed away on January 23, 2018.

Chief Norma Kassi, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation
I interviewed Chief Norma Kassi over her lunch break at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural
Centre’s Elders Room. We meet after looking for a quiet meeting space and came across the
quiet Elder’s room at the end of the corridor. The room has a sunken floor with a medicine wheel
in the middle of the floor. It is very appropriate given the nature of our interview and the
leadership perspective she shared in a truly storytelling manner.
Norma Kassi grew up on the land and this has shaped her life, her political beliefs, her
small and politically involved family, and her love of the land and resources that come from her
Vuntut Gwitchin homeland and has spread her activism from Old Crow Flats, Yukon to the
world stage.
We were raised in a very traditional way where we lived in tents and lived with the
animals that came from all over the world, birds that came from all over the world to my
homelands and lay their eggs where I walked. I had a very close connection to our
environment in Old Crow Flats. I have been very fortunate to have been born in my home
community when our traditions and spirituality was very strong. The Gwitchin
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spirituality was very strong. I am very fortunate to be able to carry that knowledge and to
be able to be able to not only teach but also try to incorporate those teachings to my
children. Now I’m in a good position to do that. I work at doing that.
It is this belief in education that emboldens her to pass this on to her family and to those
who will listen and continue the lessons she imparts. She is a residential school survivor and was
also taught by her grandfather and taken on the land with him while he was alive. The image of a
little girl flying along on a wooden sled with the pots and pans below her is powerful and it is
one of her favorite memories as well.
So, I watched that from being a young girl, being very curious and wanting to be a part of
and sometimes I was told I was being in the way but I was there to listen and hear and
watch what was going on and to know what exactly was going on and getting into and it
was very much that I understood the environment, climate, of where I came from.
What follows is how she gained her education and it is not only traditional and
experiential but also became valuable on the international stage.
I understand the land and I have very intrinsic knowledge to where I grew up and so I
was able to bring that knowledge to an international level and to educate the world
wherever I went on environmental issues pertaining to the Arctic. And how the changes
were coming, and how they were happening and that there were areas where we could not
develop oil and gas in particularly for birthplace and spawning areas.
Kassi has a great deal of emotion in her interview and she is very expressive but it is her
family that brings out the greatest emotion. The visible emotion in her is truly one of concern and
a desire to do the right thing by her family. While her career has been successful it is her desire
that she be just as successful with her parenting and her relationships with her children and
grandchildren that drives her now.
As any women who know the community, the hope is that the leaders will make the
social cultural fabric of the community strong again. You hope this will happen.
Sometimes you have to back off and do this within our own families. You know,
everything is meant to be. My family needs to learn a lot, they are young people, they

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need to learn from me. I am so happy to be there right now, absolutely happy to be there
and I am doing the best I can to rebuild that. I started politics at a young age, I’ve been
travelling a lot, I’ve been away (visibly shaken in her voice and body) from my family,
and children. I’ve been giving away to outside for too long and I’ve been put back where
I need to be, in the center of that circle and I am really happy there. I am not saying I will
stop contributing to the region, nationally and internationally and help with the
knowledge that I do have as well but I am at a good place. I have learnt a lot.
While in office she suffered as well and she also gained a great deal because she was
spiritually grounded.
I come from a very spiritual background as I talked about earlier, very close to the land,
mother earth and had respect and honour for beings that are alive. Plants and animals, I
have deep respect for all living things and I tried really hard to implement that into my
leadership. It was seen and rejected as not living in today’s religion and it came into a
strong play and created confusion and infiltrated into our leadership. There wasn’t very
long before there was chaos. So I went in there being a woman and coming with these
skills and knowledge. Sure I was naïve in a lot of ways and sure I don’t know everything
however I do have a lot of skills.
Chief Norma Kassi was the most fascinating participant for me. The lessons she provided
were very traditional in nature and she became the inspiration for the applique on the ‘Part of the
Land Part of the Water Jingle Dress’. Chief Kassi continues to work as an independent
consultant on northern health and community wellness issues.

Chief Diane Strand, Champagne Aishihik First Nation
Chief Diane Strand tells a story of change for herself and how change can be a site of
resistance for community members.
Chief Diane Strand began to tell me her story while we sat in her refuge, on the porch in
her back yard after a day of work at the Da Ku Cultural Centre in Haines Junction. The late
afternoon sun shines on her porch looking onto the Kluane Mountains. I entered her home and
am greeted by Cooper, her dog and am struck by the amount of frog knickknacks there are in her
home. She has a rich biographical background that she shared which included her Southern
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Tutchone traditional name, Mother Frog. She is named after her grandmother, Annie Ned1;
mother of Elijah Smith.
I had a wide variety growing up and so my experience was having the urban experience.
Growing up I know what it’s like to live in the city and in the bush. I know what it’s like
to be discriminated. I was teased a lot in the playground in Vancouver for being Chinese
and I remember getting so mad, saying ‘I’m Indian, I’m Indian.’ I was so upset, I’m not
Chinese. I was teased quite a bit.
Chief Strand talked a lot about the diversity within her spiritual beliefs. Her born again
Christian Aunt and Uncle on her father’s side heavily influenced this. She went to church, recited
the Bible, sang hymns, and believes in angels and spirits. She also has some new age spiritual
teachings and was taught about astrology, about spirituality and spirit guides. Her grandma
Annie Ned who she described as a “First Nation medicine woman from the First Nations
perspective” also influenced her. She also credits her dad, whom she thought of being “an
atheist when I was younger but now I don’t think he was. That’s what I always thought of him
as. So I had this wide range of spiritual beliefs. So any spiritual beliefs people share with me or
have, I’m open to it all” she says.
Her political career was something that she remembers as being important to her sister
and to her father.
I have one sister who passed, Kathy Kushner. She was a matriarch of the family. That
took a huge toll on us. It was a huge loss. She was the glue that held us together. She was
the one who made me think about leadership and made me think about leadership and
being chief. I remember when I first started working with CA, in ‘95; we just signed our
land claim agreement. I was sitting on the steps of the old administrative building, no, the
old social services building looking at the admin building. She was telling me the steps I
needed to do to become chief. ‘Like you know, you’re here as a student this summer,
you’re going to work in heritage, learn about your people, who they are where they come
from, work for the department permanently and then you’re going to become director of
that department and then move into finance and learn about the financial aspects of
1

Cruikshank, J. (1990). Life lived like a story: Life stories of three Yukon native elders. Vancouver, UBC
Press.

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running our government and then you can run as council and then run as chief.’ I
remember laughing at her and saying, ‘Ya, okay, sure!’
The tone in her voice is uncertain and she smiles as she relates this story. This then
triggers another response that gives further insight into how she was raised to become a leader.
She reveals that as a child she was challenged by her father to act in a chiefly way.
It wasn’t the first inkling. I was with my dad. Well, I don’t remember this as clearly as
my sister Josephine does but I was with my dad and I was sitting in Takhini, outside the
bush, right beside my grandmother. They had no running water or electricity and I was
like in grade 6, or 7 and I was doing my homework. Math was something I was always
struggling with. My dad was always good at math. And my sister remembers, I picked up
my books and I think being the youngest, I was spoiled, I threw my books across the
room and said, ‘I’m sick and tired of this!’ My dad picked up my books and plucked
them in front of me and he says, ‘you need to know the math. A chief does not act this
way. You need your education.’ So, I have a slight memory of that but not like my sister.
She has a clear memory of that time. She’s four years older than me.
As her academic education continued to progress, Chief Strand also recalls how her
father was more instrumental in that aspect of her experiential education as well. He stressed
history as being important for her to learn as well.
And I just though, it could be because of my dad, although he was Norwegian, he was
very politically minded. You know the news was important, the newspaper. Anything to
do with Indian land claims he pointed out and made me read it. I was 11/12 years old and
had to read the newspaper and it was important to him and of course anything to do with
Dave Joe, Chief Paul Birkel, anybody, Elijah Smith, anything to do with my own First
Nation, it was almost like a quiz, you needed to know this, you had to know about these
people. It was probably his teaching that got me thinking about politics and what it is all
about and our rights. A non-native man eh, go figure.
Through this research process it is also noticeable how the participants are also working
through their own leadership process and making connections like the one illustrated above.
In the course of her leadership career, she also notes that she had incredible challenges
that she had to overcome. Part of that was the emotions she had to deal with. It was the loss of

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the election that caused her so much pain and it was also the realization that she had been subject
to a great deal of lateral violence within her own community and by members of family.
The issue of lateral violence was something that was described by all four chiefs during
the course of our interviews. Sto’lo author Lee Maracle describes “Lateral violence among
Native people is about our anti-colonial rage working itself out in an expression of hate for one
another” (Maracle, 1996, p. 11). Strand cited lateral violence during the interview.
In terms of the chief, you have no power. Your leadership is reflective of the health of
your people. Having lost the election was one thing but it was not as big a deal as to how
I lost it. That (loss) was huge. How that went about. In terms of the lateral violence
within our First Nation and within our people. It floors me to think of how lateral
violence across Indian country, all of Canada is, let alone Yukon. When I think of how
people treat our leadership, it’s a wonder that we have people that want to do the job.
There is responsibility and obligation to do that job. It’s part of your cell structure and
who you are. And yet, it is complete wonder why you would want to do that because of
the treatment you get. Ever hear of Lee Maracle’s definition of lateral violence, the
society of people who have been oppressed to a point where there is no fight left in them
except to go against each other. “Lateral violence among Native people is about our anticolonial rage working itself out in an expression of hate for one another,” states Lee
Maracle. We don’t understand that, as a society, we don’t understand that. I think we
need to go through that healing process before we can do anything else, before we can
move forward successfully as a Self- Governing Yukon First Nation, within all of the
Yukon. We need that healing.
I left Haines Junction the next day with my heart full and a greater appreciation for the
beauty of the Kluane Mountains. I watched them grow smaller in the rear-view mirror of my car
and disappear from view from the passenger side window as I headed back to Whitehorse. Chief
Diane Strand continues to work for the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation as their
Community Wellness Director.
Conclusion
Beboong is the time of storytelling and sharing teachings. This is true for many
Indigenous cultures and is still practised in Yukon and in Anishinaabe territory as well.

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Storytelling is an important educational practice and inspirational resource because it has so
many applications in teaching and learning.
This chapter has highlighted the stories of the four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs
who have been engaged with self-government since the early 1970’s to the present. The paths to
leadership these four Yukon women Chiefs took are varied as shared by these women Chiefs.
They also disclose that they are more than their title and their job by being mothers,
grandmothers, activists, and community builders. They are educated and value their connection
to the land, to their families, their community and to helping others. They’ve helped me in my
path to education by sharing their leadership experiences.
Their experiences are directly applied to the Ziibaaska’iganagooday Framework. The
application of an Indigenous framework is educational in practice. The bias tape tabs on the
ziibaaska’iganagooday that signify the codes and themes arising from the oral histories of four
Yukon First Nations women chiefs. Each bias tape tab on the dress is representative of each code
and theme. The connected tin jingle represents the oral histories as told by the four Yukon First
Nations women chiefs. The tin jingles have been added and the stories have been told through
the five themes that emerged from the data analysis. The application of an Indigenous framework
has come to life in this chapter.
The lessons and teachings shared by the four Yukon First Nations Women Chiefs have
been highlighted in a qualitative manner that can also be correlated to the number of tin jingles
on the ziibaaska’iganagooday framework. Examples were shown in a chart and in an example of
the narratives of the four Yukon women chiefs.

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Chapter 5: Discussion
Naanan- Return to Zeegwung
Five- Return to Spring

The seasonal cycle goes around again and in Zeegwung, the snow is melting and tulips
and daffodils are breaking through the melting snow patches. Spring is a time of renewal. The
winter has been long enough. The ceremonies begin again and powwow drums can be heard
across Turtle Island. The new ziibaaska'iganagooday with all the tin jingles attached can be
offered to the wind, sun, rain, and fires as part of the ceremony to bring it to life. This chapter
looks back at the research question, a discussion of the findings of the research, and ties in other
research that would support or refute my research, and discuss the importance of my research
and Indigenous framework, and give direction for future studies.

The Research Questions
This project was guided by research questions that include: How did they develop into
leaders? What gives them strength or supports and sustains them in their role as Chief? Which of
their responsibilities and influence do they see as most important? and What has been the
significance of their gender and of Self Government to their leadership development and
performance?
The experiences shared by the four Chiefs were rich with codes and clear experiences
that spoke to the questions in the interview questionnaire/Storytelling guide. The details provided
will fit into the ziibaaska'iganagooday framework. The floral fabric of this ziibaaska'iganagooday
represents Indigenous leadership as it relates to Yukon women Chiefs. The themes were pulled

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from the stories and will be used to answer the larger research question; What are the leadership
perspectives of these Yukon women Chiefs?
The research findings have taken a long time to discover as the leadership paths of each
Yukon First Nations women Chief was varied and each took a different approach to leadership.
Indigenous leadership is as various as the many Nations found across Canada. The removal of
the Indian Act in the Yukon makes for a very different landscape for each woman to navigate
(Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 2008). The colonial ideas of leadership are not
discussed in this work but are alluded to in the literature review in Chapter Two. Indigenous
leadership in the Yukon is informed by their ties to the land, water and to their individual
communities and families and extended family ties. The history of leadership in the Yukon is
discussed heavily in Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (2008), Council for Yukon
Indians (1973), Cruikshank (1990), McClellan et al (1987).
My initial thoughts on the leadership perspectives of Yukon First Nations women Chiefs
were laid out in a medicine wheel. The medicine wheel was not predominately a teaching found
in the Yukon but regalia was and since the ziibaaska'iganagooday was something important to
me, I used the regalia as a framework to tell the leadership stories of these women Chiefs who
agreed to share their experiences. The final results did not fit into the medicine wheel very well
but it did fit well into a ziibaaska'iganagooday pattern. This happened when I saw the need to
bring the work together and I overlaid the pattern. The ziibaaska'iganagooday framework was
also something unique and had a pattern associated with it and it could be made to fit together in
the end. This Indigenous framework allowed me to dance and to heal while learning more about
the North, about the Yukon First Nations women I admired and about the topic of leadership in
self-governing Yukon First Nations as the storyteller, researcher and dancer.

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Themes in the Chief’s Stories
Yukon First Nations women chiefs have a greater story to tell and share with the Yukon
Territory, with Canada and the Canadian society. As presented in Chapter 4 the qualitative table
illustrates the four Yukon First Nations women Chief’s themes included political career,
education, biographical information, spirituality and emotion. Overall, the women identified a
shared leadership experience that included their roles in the Yukon political scene spanning the
early days when the negotiations for self-government first happened to the most recent years
when the three governments are engaged in the implementation of the Self-Government
Agreements. The sample quotes are illustrative of the themes. The themes respond to the four
research questions. The quotes are pulled to support the themes and to highlight important events
in their political careers or personal lives.
The discussion created is also to highlight the importance of their voices, as women’s
stories are valued for their oral histories, and as a vital part of the narrative that relates to the
importance of self-governance in the Yukon, in Canada and the world. The discussion of
Northern female voices is also important to note as it was pointed out in the beginning stages of
this research that most of the voices for the Klondike were men and settler female voices with
little being attributed to Yukon First Nations women (Cruikshank, 1990).

Political Career
Chiefs Diane Strand, Math’ieya Alatini, Doris McLean, and Norma Kassi all drew
strength from their families, from the role models that they had in their lives from growing up in
politically aware families and family connections. This support system was instrumental in their
careers and especially in their terms as Chief and post-election as well. It is not a surprise that
their political career should be the most important finding for each of them as the topic is

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represented almost half of the total responses in the transcripts. Their political careers are what
this research is about. They shared a great deal of information from their experiences and this
made for a rich detailed analysis in relation to their political career. The research indicates that
the four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs were heavily involved with Yukon First Nations
politics from a young age. For example, Strand shares about expectations and obligations that
stem from having been raised to act like a Chief, having been raised in a politically active home,
and getting involved in political activism and continued to be involved in Yukon politics
throughout their lives at various levels and through their work and volunteer experiences.
They also shared about the day-to-day operations of being a Chief for a Yukon First
Nation during their time in office. They gave examples of the issues that they faced within their
community and with the governments they must deal with in order to become self-governing.
The issues of lateral violence carried throughout the four interviews. They also identified the
different political leaders who influenced them growing up, while in their careers, and led them
to participate, learn, and practise leadership skills in their community, and on the national and
international stages.

Education
The research also found that the value of education was important to these four women.
Education was valued by the generation before them and was recognized as an important skill
and instilled at a young age. From being raised on the land and following the seasons and the
animals on their land and learning from her grandfather or father, being raised in a crowded
family home in their traditional territory, moving to attain a better education away from the
influences of alcohol and suicide, to simply learning by leading and following a passion for
community and by going to university and getting taught by Indigenous professors and working

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for the community which have all led to positions of leadership. They had to be knowledgeable
about their history, their lineages, and the influence that other governments had on their land and
people. This came through their education experiences at home, at school and in their workplaces
and in the boardrooms where they sat and listened and sometimes led the discussions. This type
of leadership is grounded in experience, as Kenny stated when discussing Indigenous women’s
leadership (Kenny & Fraser, 2012, p. 2).
Chiefs Diane Strand, Math’ieya Alatini, Doris McLean, and Norma Kassi were all raised
to be leaders in their community, if not Chiefs implicitly. The paths they took were different but
their life experiences still formed the foundation for their leadership roles. From when a young
Diane Strand was doing homework with her father and he made her pick up her strewn
workbooks to when her sister sat down with her to describe her steps to leadership and to her
election loss she had a strong path set for her. The experiential learning that a young Norma
Kassi was given after escaping from residential school to return to the Old Crow Flats to learn
from her grandfather and then her mother has served her immensely in her political career and in
her continued activism. Chief McLean has a long distinctive service career as a community
builder and a trail-blazing politician in the early days of negotiation for Yukon First Nations selfgovernment. Math’ieya Alatini pursued Yukon First Nations politics after a successful career as
a Public Servant and became one of the Yukon’s youngest Chiefs for her community. Alatini is
now the Liberal MLA for the Kluane riding in the Yukon.

Biographical Information
The Chiefs also shared a great deal of biographical information in their transcripts based
on their experiences throughout life which speaks to the importance of their family, their
community, their Nation, and their experiences as leaders within the Yukon and elsewhere. A

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key part of their identity is wrapped around their family, community, and Nation. They were
mothers, sisters, granddaughters, nieces, and cousins and had responsibilities in these
relationships. The relationships that tie these leaders together are also based on the kinship and
clans of the Yukon. As a caribou clan member, it is something that I can understand as well.
Closely tied to the family were the ties to their traditional territory and the preservation and
protection of their land and waters. This type of activism is key to their leadership experiences
that continue in their present lives and employment. Knowing where you come from is important
and this was always something that past leaders wanted to ensure for the generations that each
woman comes from. It is fortuitous that the leaders in this project do represent four generations.
The experiences they grew up with had a huge influence on their social and political lives. Their
families, the relationships they had with each other, and their geographical connections brings to
life the Yukon in each region.

Spirituality
Three out of four Chiefs identified that spirituality was important in their lives but it did
not overwhelm their discourse. The result was low but the theme was brought up when the
Chiefs discussed spirituality in relation to their family, the health of their community and
Indigenous protocols. A particularly dark issue of what would be considered bad medicine
wrapped in lateral violence and malicious gossip tested the faith and wellness of Chief Strand.
She summed it up nicely though as an unforgettable election. The need to heal and work towards
decolonization is evident in the behaviour described by Chief Strand. A link to education can be
made as well when the literary work of Sto’lo writer Lee Maracle (1996) was brought up to
define lateral violence. While none of these Chiefs attended the imposed mission schools or
residential schools they did have to deal with the direct and indirect effects in their work and

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political careers. With the imposition of Residential schools and mission schools the issues of
faith in their community have hit Yukon First Nations communities hard and the issues of
suicide, alcoholism and drug abuse become social issues in the North as elsewhere. The
connection is made in the desire to be well and the choices made to remove one’s self from a
harmful and crisis situation to improve their chances were made at a young age. Spirituality was
also linked to their observations of the animals in terms of prophesy and seeing the future. The
idea of new age spirituality and religion was also an influence that allowed for openness to
diversity in faith and spirituality. This acceptance is what made these women Chiefs such change
makers in their communities, for their Nations, and for the North and international scene.
Spirituality is important because it is important to their communities and to the history that these
women must know and balance with the other themes identified.

Emotion
The emotion displayed and experienced also made an impact on the tone of the
interviews as the emotion was conveyed in the words used in the transcripts, and the laughter
they experienced in moments where they expressed their feelings, self-deprecation, and
humbleness. They also laughed and interacted with the researcher who listened and observed
them during the interview. Their emotions did not weaken them in the least but made them more
emotionally connected to their family and also expressed feelings of loss, regret and possibly
guilt at being away for so long. Others affirmed their emotional connection to their family
because of the time they chose to spend with them in raising them, in staying home, in
postponing their election plans, or in losing elections because it allowed for more family time or
ended a particularly laterally violent election period and expressing the loss of a sibling. The

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laughter that was shared in these interviews was also something particular to Indigenous women
and the act of connection and relationship building.
Leadership in Indigenous communities has often been male dominated. A note on the
predominately male business that Anderson (2011, p.134) refers to has to do with the imposition
of the Indian Act on leadership selection being regulated to allow only men to hold the position
of Chief. The Indian Act eroded the woman’s role in taking care of the community and or
selecting a leader based on the situation or times in the community and not one elected for a
three-year period like the Indian Act dictates. Interestingly; as a self-governing First Nation,
many of the Yukon First Nations Constitutions do set out election policies that are much in line
with the colonial system but this is also changing as more First Nations are actively involved in
decolonization and reconciliation with their own customs and ideals. Yukon First Nations were
considered to be matrilineal according to Cruikshank (1990).
Sounding the Jingles
The tin jingles on the ziibaaska'iganagooday are the most important part of the
dress. Not only are they the sound makers but they are also representing the voices of the four
Yukon First Nations women Chiefs I have interviewed for this project. For the
ziibaaska'iganagooday I have helped to cut the tin cans using tin snips. The pattern for the tin
jingle was shaped on a piece of birch bark. A conical shaped wooden dowel assisted in the
rolling of the tin jingle. My biological father’s cousin; Kaaren Daanenmann and I, made the
cones. In Anishnaubek family structure she would be considered my auntie (K. Daanenmann,
personal communication, October 2017). This speaks to the relationality that exists in this work
and in the lived experience that brings this ziibaaska'iganagooday alive. I will begin by
summarizing the quantitative results, which is analogous to the precise work of using a pattern

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and cutting the tin jingles. Then, by using the emerging themes and my own observations and
experiences throughout this research, I will sound the tin jingles and ultimately dance the
leadership perspectives of the Yukon First Nations women Chiefs. Similar to how dreaming of
and making a ziibaaska'iganagooday comes with responsibilities, I am responsible for sounding
the stories given to me by these women.
The Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework aims to share their leadership stories through the
grandmother fabric, the bias tape depicts their leadership path; the bias tape tabs the codes and
themes; and the tin jingles are the stories that the Yukon women Chiefs have to share. The
Chief’s connection to the land and the water is illustrated in the applique on the bottom of the
ziibaaska'iganagooday. The Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework began with stories about how the
ziibaaska'iganagooday came to be, how my life story includes powwow dancing, and how the
ziibaaska'iganagooday came into my life not only through this project but also through my own
healing process. As I write and piece together the ziibaaska'iganagooday I am happy to be
learning to dance. There is solace in the fact that these women also learned to be leaders by
doing the work. There was expectation and no clear path for them.
The leadership story heard with each sound of the tin jingle as the four women and their
perspectives have been put into the ziibaaska'iganagooday. The cloth is woven with their
leadership experiences and has been in the works since Chief Jim Boss first expressed a wish to
save land for his people and the coming generations in 1902 (Council for Yukon Indians, 1973).
The voices of Yukon First Nations leaders continued to raise the issue with then Prime Minister
Pierre Eliot Trudeau and Doris McLean was there in 1973 when formal land claims were first
proposed by the Yukon First Nations. The leadership cloth grew with each lesson shared by
their family, with each negotiation, with each general assembly when self-government was

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discussed, with each election ballot, and with each government meeting between the Yukon First
Nation and Canada and eventually the Yukon Government to sign the Umbrella Final Agreement
on the path to Yukon Self-Government.
The results indicated that the leadership perspectives of Yukon First Nations women
Chiefs are largely effected by their political career and the events and policies that guide their
work in their communities and on the territorial and national level. The Ziibaaska'iganagooday
Framework with its foundation of Indigenous leadership was a good framework for the narrative
inquiry method to illustrate the life and leadership experiences of four Yukon woman Chiefs
from four different communities and cultures. The foundation for the results is further supported
by the creation stories about how the ziibaaska'iganagooday came to be in Anishnaabe powwow
culture, and how it became an important powwow dance, and how the ziibaaska'iganagooday
came into my life not only through this project but also through my own healing process. I am
just learning to dance and the stories of four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs is just one story
that can be danced in this manner. The ziibaaska'iganagooday has its own life and it will extend
far beyond the work being done for this Masters of Education program. The responsibility by the
researcher and the determination to complete the project and the ziibaaska'iganagooday in a good
way is not taken on lightly.
Summary of Findings
The data analysis focused on the themes that emerged from the interviews. The
quantitative portion of the analysis describes what proportion of the total responses each theme
represents. The data analysis revealed that political career; education; biographical information;
spirituality and emotion were key themes in the transcribed interviews. The qualitative
breakdown of this information is as follows: political career accounts for 46.7% of the total

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responses with 370 occurrences in the transcripts. This was not surprising since they were Chiefs
and their careers had led to this position within their lifetime. The surprising factor in this
analysis was that education came in at 24.6% of the total responses with 195 occurrences. There
was no question about education in the questionnaire but it came through in the analysis.
Biographical information was third with 24.0% of total responses with 190 occurrences in the
transcripts. This was a guiding question that was asked first in the questionnaire but information
was shared throughout their responses to other questions as well. I included the two lowest
themes: spirituality at 2.5% of the total responses with 20 responses sprinkled through the
transcripts. Lastly, emotion and emotional responses occurred 2.0% of the total responses with
16 occurrences in the transcripts and noted in my field notes because while these themes show up
they take little space in their responses and because it does highlight the fact that they are women
in a predominately male business (Anderson, 2011, p. 134) and can perhaps be suppressing the
outward display of emotions in order to compete in a male dominated system.
All my Relations
The results in this research illustrate the differences and similarities faced by the four
Yukon First Nation women Chiefs. The Chiefs have to negotiate many factors like ensuring
family and community support, deal with issues of gender, sexism, and racism. They have to rely
on their mentors and provide mentorship, and balance spirituality and emotions. All of these
come up at some point in their political careers. These themes do appear in their interviews.
Voyageur (2008) discusses this in her research into the women Chiefs who are governing under
the Indian Act in First Nations across Canada. Yukon First Nations women chiefs have a greater
story to tell and share with the Yukon Territory, with Canada and the Canadian society. The

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sound of their voices, their connection to the land and the water will be shared in the applique on
the dress and through the tin jingles.
The leadership stories of the four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs and their
perspectives have been put into the cloth. The cloth is woven with their leadership experiences.
The leadership cloth grew with each lesson shared by their family, with each negotiation, with
each general assembly when self-government was discussed, with each election ballot, and with
each government meeting between the Yukon First Nation and Canada and eventually the Yukon
Government. The leadership stories and their voices can be heard in each jingle on the dress.
By reviewing the qualitative narratives these four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs
have shared I can say that the research answers to the four questions are complex and varied. The
central question is: What are the perspectives on leadership held by Yukon First Nations women
leaders? What struck me the most was the respect that each woman Chief gives to her family
and those who are influential in her leadership. Leadership is about respect for these Yukon First
Nations women Chiefs and this has carried them from their childhood to adulthood and
becoming an Elder. They not only showed respect to those people but also showed me and my
research and search for knowledge with respect by agreeing to meet with me, by inviting me into
their lives, and to stay and visit and with the responsibility to tell their story in a “good way”.
The women in these interviews continue to move forward in their leadership capacities.
Chief Alatini lost the last Kluane First Nation election. Chief Kassie continues to work in the
Yukon on health and environmental issues with The Arctic Institute of Community-Based
Research. Chief Doris McLean is currently healing from a health issue that has challenged her
physically but she has so much mental, spiritual and emotional support to conquer her current
health issues. It is only a matter of time and prayers that will see her honoured for her amazing

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contribution to the political life of the Yukon. Chief Diane Strand continues her political journey
by working with Champagne Aishihik First Nation.

Evaluation of the Study
In wishing to share the leadership perspectives of these Yukon First Nations
Chiefs in their own voice, I believe that I have fulfilled the Indigenous concept of respectful
storytelling. The stories these women tell are unique. No two stories are the same as each has
arrived at their position of leadership through different paths.
I formed a questionnaire/ storytelling guide (Appendix A) to act as a guideline to the coresearchers during our interview. I did not expect the co-researchers to use them as heavily as
they did. It was only when Chief Alatini asked for a copy during our interview and heavily relied
on it that I felt the interview was going to be too prescriptive and would only answer the
questions. Chief Alatini’s interview was the shortest of all the interviews because of her limited
time before going to another important government meeting that cold fall morning. The
remaining Chiefs also reviewed the questionnaire to varying degrees. Chief McLean leafed it and
then set it aside for the whole of the interview. Chief Strand had her copy beside her but would
ask me if there was anything she missed and I would have to review the questionnaire and
refresh her mind. Chief Kassi also ignored the questionnaire for the most part but to keep her
story on track I would ask her the guiding questions.
Upon analysis of the data, it became clear to me that the questions that I thought were
open-ended were limiting the responses that could be provided by the co-researchers. What I
had hoped for was a more fluid story about their leadership experiences and life experiences.
This was partially achieved when we sat with each other and became more relaxed in our

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conversations. A connection was achieved on a personal level, a woman-to-woman level, a
teacher to learner level, an Elder to adult learner, a leader to emerging leader level. There are
mistakes in this work and I own them all and humbly ask for any corrections and lessons to be
shared with me so that I may correct and learn from them.
I found that the analysis process was hampered by my lack of education in computer
analysis programs like NVivo but I ended up with a thematic analysis of my interviews which
helped me draw major themes from the interviews using the codes I developed. The important
themes emerged within the individual interviews and intuitively I felt each participant identified
them. I had to do the qualitative data analysis and I felt that I lost so much time and energy. I
also noted that my original conception for this work had a great deal of social issues that did not
materialize in the interviews.
While my research aimed to present a more Indigenous centred approach to Indigenous
women in leadership, to storytelling, and to Indigenous research methods, I feel the imposition of
the colonial academic process weighed more heavily in this work. There is a systemic
incongruence that makes it difficult to merge the Indigenous research pedagogy developed with
the constraints of the dominant, academic pedagogies. Maori scholar Linda Tuhiwai Smith notes
that conventional research paradigms erase the knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples.
Institutions are so firmly rooted in colonialism that it is very deterring for Indigenous people to
engage in research within these institutions (L.T. Smith, 2002). Perhaps this is something that
another researcher can attempt to do and make it less about Western concepts of leadership and
more Indigenous centred than this.
Why did this research take so much time to complete? This is the toughest question and I
can only say that I took all the time I could for my health, my mental health, my emotional

99

wellness, my spiritual growth and physical limitations. The time to complete research should be
addressed because of the qualitative nature of this work. When I look at my medicine wheel
teachings I can see that the path I have taken here was about balance and the importance of
maintaining balance.
Trimming the Loose Threads
This penultimate chapter provided the discussion of the themes that emerged from this
research. The results can be laid out on the Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework and dress pattern
with the Anishnaabek Medicine Wheel applied to the overall teachings as a support. By living a
good life, bimaadiziwin, I am also able to dance in a good way and to tell the leadership stories
in a good way.
As the researcher, I could not help but note that I also felt the same determination and
stubbornness exhibited by Strand while going through this research process. What I have learnt
is that Indigenous women leaders are human. Indigenous women are strong. Indigenous women
have always been leaders. Indigenous women are well equipped to lead their communities as
they have always been whether it was through their matriarchal lineage or standing behind the
men after they had spoken and told the men what they wanted to happen in the patrilineal and
paternalistic world where their voices had been silenced. Indigenous women leaders are not
passive. They are assertive. They have a strong sense of responsibility that comes from
mothering and always taking care of others. I learnt that as a leader I have so much more to learn
and that by being a dancer, I am doing my part and am respected in this role as I have been as an
academic researcher. I have gone through my own journey around the medicine wheel and the
lived experience has made profound mental, physical, emotional and spiritual impacts. But none
more so than the fact that I now possess a ziibaaska'iganagooday that has brought me to the

100

powwow circle with new responsibilities as a ziibaaska'iganagooday dancer with a good story to
share.

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Chapter 6: Conclusion
Ningodwaaswi- Ishkwaataa2
Six- s/he is at the end of an activity

In this project, I have looked at a small part of my life through the Anishinaabe Medicine
Wheel (Bopp et al, 1989) and Anishnaabe culture, my language, and my relationships and search
for knowledge. This learning process comes from my family, my circle of friends, from people
who have entered my circle, and from my memories. I pull at those memories of culture and
traditions like threads that have helped me heal and work on informing me of my responsibilities
and Anishnaube teachings. As I look at my Anishnaube culture and traditions I believe that the
ziibaaska'iganagooday is most fitting for this academic work. I have briefly discussed oral
traditions as they relate to Indigenous storytelling, shared what I have been taught about the
ziibaaska'iganagooday, shared my version of the ziibaaska'iganagooday story and shared my
process of creating a ziibaaska'iganagooday as a framework for this project both in a figurative
and real manner. Throughout this project, the ziibaaska'iganagooday is associated with healing,
ceremony and women in a leadership role. I cannot answer how spiritual this
ziibaaska’iganagooday is because I believe it has to be felt in the spiritual manner in which it
was intended to. I can pass on how I feel about the ziibaaska'iganagooday. It is a powerful
ziibaaska’iganagooday that garners a great deal of respect and inspires others to share and stand

2

End. (2015). In The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary. Retrieved from
http://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=end+&commit=Search&type=english
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in strength. The ziibaaska'iganagooday itself continues to provide lessons for me and I hope to
continue with this experiential learning into the future.
In conversations and presentations on this research and this Indigenous framework, I
have spoken to children at local elementary schools, provided teachings to teachers, and spoken
to university students. It has been well received and there are requests from academics, teachers
and community educators for this work to be shared. I have also shared this research framework
during the latter part of my public statement on the impacts of the child welfare system and
resilience at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in
Smithers, BC (September 27, 2017).
I have looked at a small part of my Anishnaube culture from my family, my circle of
friends, and from people who have entered my circle, and from my own memories. I pull at those
memories of culture and traditions that have helped me heal and work on informing me of my
responsibilities and the teachings that make me Anishnaubeg. As I look at my Anishnaube
culture and traditions I believe that the ziibaaska'iganagooday is most fitting for this academic
work. I have discussed oral traditions as they relate to Indigenous storytelling, share what I have
been taught about the ziibaaska'iganagooday, shared my version of the ziibaaska'iganagooday
story and shared my process of creating a ziibaaska'iganagooday as a framework for this thesis
both in a figurative and real manner.
Further Research
This narrative inquiry research sought to tell the stories of four Yukon First Nations
women Chiefs. I have answered the research questions based on my understanding of their
stories. I have discussed how their biographical information has influenced their career paths;
what education means to them whether it is through experiential learning or academic training;

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and how their political career has influenced their lives and their time in office; and how
emotions are expressed in our limited interactions; and how spirituality plays a role in their lives
as women and as leaders.
Since the Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework was something new in this academic
context, it occurred to me that doing more health and wellness research into the participant’s
time while in office would be important. Since the ziibaaska’iganagooday is a teaching was
important from a healing perspective that the Ziibaaska’iganagooday Framework could have also
addressed. This Indigenous framework could also be used to explore other topics in the hopes of
allowing other Indigenous researchers to do work without bending to academic methodologies.
The larger and growing field of indigenous leadership research could also be reviewed
due to the political careers of these leaders. The Yukon is a rich and varied place to do research
on the topic of leadership in cooperation with the various Yukon First Nations and with other
Yukon researchers or academics.
Indigenous women’s leadership development initiatives have grown across Canada. As
the need for community development and leadership capacity development has increased there is
also a need for more women to be trained.
The fact that there are new women Chiefs in the Yukon since this research originally
began did not escape the researcher. There could be an expansion of this work by looking more
closely at the data on mentorship.
Final Intertribal Dance
The research that was done in this project is coming to an end as the voices of four
Yukon First Nations women Chiefs have been shared, their themes have been described and their
voices contribute to research in the North, to providing examples of Yukon First Nations women

104

in leadership, to bringing examples of Indigenous research and literature to a colonial research
model and pushing the boundaries of what a research project looks or reads like. There are
mistakes and I own them.
The research that has emerged from this work has been a long time coming not only in
terms of subject matter because it shares the leadership stories of four Yukon First Nations
women Chiefs in complete transcripts but also within the thematic data analysis. The information
contained in this work was inspiring because the lessons will be different for each reader. It also
resulted in a great deal of inward reflection and personal growth (Ermine, 1995, p. 102).
The four Yukon First Nations women Chiefs have given so much energy, time, and
lessons to their community members, their community, to the Yukon, and the broader Canadian
and international stages. That these women continue to be leaders is a testament to the paths that
they have been guided to and have continued to blaze. These women continue to be role models
for other women across the Yukon and across Canada. There will be photos, paintings and more
research about these inspirational women in the future. Being able to share their stories for as
long as I can dance and talk will be an honour. I raise my medicine fan to these leaders, the time
they gave me, the permission to use their experiences and for the opportunity to learn from their
lessons and grow through this educational process. I hope that as a reader you have heard their
stories through the tin jingles and take away the lessons.
Ziibaaska'iganagooday Dancing
My Ziibaaska'iganagooday Framework resonates with me much more now than I had
ever imagined. The powwow drummers have almost completed their final round of the song and
the honour beats have been sounded. The final steps on the dance floor are about to be taken. The

105

ziibaaska'iganagooday dancers are on their toes and next step with full hearts and they have done
their work.
I have danced in this ziibaaska’iganagooday and each time I do, I am always sharing
these stories. I have visions of other jingle dresses to tell different stories with because in the
Yukon, in British Columbia and across Canada we are in a time of reconciliation and the healing
work is just beginning.
As I have spent the last part of my project writing while living on Haida Nation, and
working for the Haida Nation, I have embarked on a new journey of healing and rediscovery
where nature, traditional teachings, and practical knowledge and skills have been gained through
lessons of trust, faith, honesty, humility, respect, bravery, love, and wisdom. There has also been
a great deal of laughter, tears, and illness that has challenged me. I have become stronger as a
Nishnaubekwe, as a ziibaaska'iganagooday dancer, as a writer, as a teaching assistant, as a leader
and student. I am able to look back at my work, my interviews, my journey into balance, and see
that I have come back to the centre of the Anishnaabe medicine wheel (Bopp et al, 1989). I have
a new understanding of myself as an Anishnaube ziibaaska'iganagooday dancer and why I am
who I am and why the project is a growing component in my leadership development. I look
forward to the next powwow and ceremony.

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Figure 1. Dancing the leadership stories of four Yukon First Nations Women Chiefs. Ink on
paper drawing by K. Seivewright. 2017. Daajing Giids Queen Charlotte: Haida Gwaii. Kara
Seivewright. Copyright 2017 by K. Seivewright. Reprinted with permission.

107

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Simpson, L. B. (2011). Dancing on our turtle’s back: Stories of Nishnaabeg re-creation,
resurgence and a new emergence. Winnipeg, MB: Arbeiter Ring Pub.
Smith, C. L. (2000). Jingle dancer. New York, NY: Morrow Junior Books.

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Smith, L. T. (1999/2002). Decolonizing methodologies: Research And Indigenous peoples.
London, UK: Zed Books.
Stegner, I. (2009). The history, symbolism, spirituality, and transformation of the jingle dress
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Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, Ottawa.
Sullivan, L.E. (2009). The Sage glossary of the social and behavioural sciences. Thousand Oaks,
CA: SAGE.
Voyageur, C. (2008). Firekeepers of the twenty-first century: First Nations women chiefs.
Montreal, QC: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
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to make your own moccasins. Me: You’re kidding right? Old Woman: No. You make them
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thread of the teachings, the lessons in all the hard miles. You stitch them carefully with all
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Appendix A
Interview Questionnaire
Yukon First Nations Women Chiefs and their Leadership Perspectives
University of Northern British Columbia
Masters of Education – Multidisciplinary Leadership
Questionaire #: _________ Interviewer:_________________________________
Please answer each question with as much information as you can possibly provide,
include all names, dates, places, people, etc as possible. This will make for a much
richer interview story and provide invaluable information for further research from the
researcher. Please feel free to use more paper and clearly identify which question you
are answering.
Section 1: Demographics
Can you please tell me about yourself and where you come from?
For example:
Your age, your clan, your place of birth, about your family members, and about any
children or grandchildren
Section 2: Political Life background
Can you tell me how you became involved in politics and how you came to develop your
leadership skills?
For example, you might tell me:
Describe how you first became politically involved?
About your family political activities and it’s possible influence on your political career
Role as Chief
What made you run for this position?
For example you may tell me
-about what gives you strength or sustains you in this leadership position
-community support
- family support
On Being a Chief
What has been the significance of Self-Governance to your leadership development and
performance?
For example; you might tell me
-about your Final Agreements, your Self Government Agreements, your Constitution
and it’s features
-how your community has benefited from Self Government

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-any problems you have encountered with community members or other government
leaders or bureaucrats
Gender
Does being a woman make a difference for your position as chief?
For example, you could tell me about
-child care issues
- sexism in the political arena
Advice for other women and youth interested in politics
What advice would you give to Yukon First Nation women and youth thinking about a
career in politics?
Naming Names
Please provide the name and First Nations affiliation of any other female chiefs (or
former chiefs) that you know of in the Yukon.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________
Other comments or concerns
Have I have missed any questions or issues you may have faced during your tenure as
chief that you think should be included in this study. Please provide details.
You have answered all of the interview questions.
Thank you for your assistance, participation, and invaluable information for this research
looking at the leadership perspectives of Yukon First Nation Women Chiefs.
I, the undersigned Chief, do state that the information furnished on my interview
questionnaire on behalf of the above-stated principal researcher, and on all
accompanying attachments required to be made thereto, to the best of my knowledge
and belief, is complete and accurate
________________________________________________________________
Signature of Chief
Date signed
________________________________________________________________
Witness
Date signed
You can reach me, Rhonda Lee McIsaac, by email at mcisaac@unbc.ca; by phone
(250) 301-7236 or fax me at xxx xxx-xxxx if you have any questions or you require any

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assistance in completing this survey. We can also conduct a telephone interview at your
request.
I would like an opportunity to meet with you to get a short video excerpt and or
photographs for use in the thesis and or presentations or future publications, based on
my permission.
I would like to do a short video interview ________________________________
I would not like to do a short video interview ___________________________
I would like to do a personal interview, scheduled at my convenience while the
researcher is in Yukon
______________________________________________________________________
I would not like to participate in a personal interview
___________________________________

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Appendix B
University of Northern British Columbia Research Ethics Board Approval Letter
Note: I do not have a clear version of this document as it was scanned to me and sent
via email. I am hoping that the REB has that copy.

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Appendix C
Student Information Form
Title of Study: The Leadership Perspectives of Yukon First Nations Women Chiefs
Information About the Study
This study is being conducted by Rhonda Lee McIsaac Weweshkiinzhigook Gooseeyes,
Candidate for the Masters of Education, Multi-disciplinary Leadership degree under the
supervision of Professor Dr. Willow Brown at the University of Northern British
Columbia.
The purpose of this this study is to tell the leadership stories of Yukon First Nations
chiefs who are working within the confines of a self governing First Nations context.
This study will be reviewed by the Research Ethics Boards at the University of Northern
British Columbia as well as by the participants themselves.
Information for Participants
This study is restricted to Yukon First Nations women chiefs currently in office or within
the past 15 years who have been Chiefs under the Self Government Agreements
definition of chiefs/ka sha de heni or other traditional name assigned by their
Constitution.
As a participant, you will be asked to participate in two interviews. The first interview will
be done via a questionnaire and will be mailed to you or emailed to you or done in a
personal interview. You will have 3 weeks to complete the questionnaire. I will then
follow up with a personal interview that will be conducted within 90 minutes and take
place at a location of your convenience. There will be time given to review your
responses during the course of the interview process.
By participating, you will be sharing your personal experiences and stories related to
your development and time in leadership.
There are no risks associated with participating in this study.
If at any time you would like to quit this study, you may do so by advising me with your
decision. Any information that you shared will be automatically withdrawn.
Confidentiality
Names and any other self-identifying information is required in order to tell your story
and for you to participate in this study. If you should not wish to use your name, an alias
will be provided and any self-identifying information is not required, and individual
information will be removed from the interview transcript upon your request.
You will be provided with a copy of the interview transcript for your approval before your
responses are used for the study. You will be invited to discuss the transcript by phone,
email, or in an optional interview.
Interview transcripts will be kept in a secure location away from the research site.
Data that includes identifying information will be destroyed at the end of the study.

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Contact Information
If you have any questions or comments resulting from your participation in this study, or
would like to be informed of the results, please contact Rhonda Lee McIsaac at
mcisaacr@unbc.ca
Any complaints should be directed to the Office of Research at the University of
Northern British Columbia, 250-960-5820 or by email at reb@unbc.ca
* Please keep this form for your records
Participant Consent Form
Title of Study: The Leadership Perspectives of Yukon First Nations Women Chiefs
Researcher: Rhonda Lee McIsaac, MEd, Multidisciplinary Leadership, University of
Northern British Columbia. Rhonda can be contacted at mcisaacr@unbc.ca

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Appendix D
The four full transcripts in the following four appendices contain the most important part
of my project. These are the stories, lessons, and teachings of four Yukon First Nations Women
Chiefs. Their full transcripts were sent to them via email during the process of this project. The
stories of the five Yukon First Nation women chiefs have been transcribed, edited for clarity, for
continuity and to capture the story shared with me in one to one interviews.
It is with no disrespect that they are included in the appendix section. I had wanted to use
them in my project but this was not the usual process for a Masters of Education thesis but I have
inserted them here for other readers. The lessons that can be pulled from these transcripts will be
valuable to others and I wanted to honour all of the lessons in these transcripts. Without the
participants this project would not have been at all possible.

Chief Math’ieya Alatini
Kluane First Nation
Math’ieya Alatini, Chief of the Kluane First Nation, asked to meet before she left for
Burwash Landing after attending a quarterly Chiefs meeting in Whitehorse, Yukon. I anxiously
arrived half an hour early and sat in the lobby of the Gold Rush Inn reviewing my questions and
thinking of how I had first heard her speak the year before at the Council of Yukon First Nations
Annual General Meeting. This morning we sat down for a light breakfast and tea and began our
conversation as the morning rush began in the restaurant. “I don’t normally eat breakfast but lots
of coffee”. I begin our interview by reviewing the questions with her. She chooses to go through
the interview in the manner in which it was laid out on the questionnaire.

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I was born in Vancouver, raised in Burwash Landing but across the lake in the village in
a one-room cabin, with my mom, sister, and my dad. I am the oldest of an amalgamated family.
. . . We were in Burwash until I was 10. Then I was in Victoria from when I was 10 to 14 years of
age. We moved up here [to Whitehorse] for 2 years.
I had to go to school here in Whitehorse when I was 14. My mom was living out in
Burwash and so I’ve been pretty much on my own since I was 14. I realized that being here there
is too much, the drug scene is harsh- most 14 year olds were getting drunk most of the time –
drug abuse is pretty hard here [in the Yukon]. Drinking and drugs all the time. It was too much
for me.
I had a huge family. I am not kidding when I say that I am related to half of the Yukon. I
literally am. You kinda are pigeonholed into a group by association. So I took off. I left and did
my grade 12 in Victoria [B.C]. I stayed there from 16 to 25 years of age and then come back [to
the Yukon] in the summers. We moved here for two to three years and then moved to Vancouver.
So we spent a lot of time away. Burwash has always been home.
In my younger years, I was raised around land claims. My mom was not actively involved
because she had three young kids but was definitely in the circle. We use to go to Indian Days. I
remember these political leaders always being around and listening to them talk about land
claims and always had passionate discussions about politics.
I was born in 1972 so the Indian Movement started in 1973 here [in Yukon] with
Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow. “Let’s go to Ottawa!” they’d say and all of those
people [who travelled to Ottawa] are still around. Throughout my childhood… you listened to
the impassioned speeches of leaders saying, “We have a right to govern our land, a right to see

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our own destiny and to be here for our people and ensure the land is here for our children.” And
that message becomes engrained.
So, the community was split between status and non-status Indians. We use to live with
the leader of the Yukon Association of Non-Status Indians and then one of my step dads' best
friends was Metis. So, we had the Metis perspective brought into our house. Divisiveness
brought on by the [Federal] government and so people were working on their part to become
unified. So that kinda shaped it [her leadership development].
I remember coming back from Victoria for high school, between 14 to 16 years old and
my grandpa Joe Joe was here and we’d already signed off on the Umbrella Final Agreement
(UFA). Every First Nation was looking at their own unique Agreement out of the UFA. I use to
have coffee with Grandpa Joe Joe and Elijah Smith at Woolworths. There used to be a
Woolworths down here (downtown Whitehorse). After school, they’d hang around and the
solicitors there and visit. They liked to loiter and have coffee forever.
They would instill in me, “What you are you going to do with your life, what are you
going to be?” They would question me about tonnes of things. They would tell stories. Yah, they
cared. Cared enough that a 13/14 year old that was going to have a future and take up the reins.
IT was an expectation. “You’re going to take up the reins, what are you going to do about it?”
There was that expectation.
At 14, I was living with Tony and Lou Penniket [former Yukon Premier] when the UFA
was being signed. So Tony was involved in the signing of the UFA and got a lot of flack for it.
But what a lot of people don’t know is that Tony is absolutely brilliant. He’s a smart man. So, we
would have debates. I would get his perspective on the opposite of what he’d say. The UFA was
not good, we’re selling off our land people would say and Tony would be the one who would say,

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well no. He was a strong believer in the UFA, and a believer that the Yukoners would be
stronger and independent. So, I had some good mentors.
My mom is in there too. I had a pretty broad understanding of leadership and why my
mom has been a really driving force. She supported me. “Of course, you’re going to university”
(she’d say) and (was) supportive of me leaving when I was 14.
I am not going to survive if I stay here (I would say). There was a high rate of suicide in
the two years I was in school as four my friends committed suicide. I decided that this was not
where I wanted to be.
I had the self-determination to get out of here and I knew I could make it in Victoria. I
had a group of friends there, I could get a job, and I could pay rent. And my mom said, “you are
going to finish high school, you are going to university, and you are not coming out.” It was an
expectation. I don’t usually let her down. I try not to anyways. And maybe that part of me, I’m a
bit stubborn.
In University, I took courses on leadership, sociology, and courses in understanding
group behavior and group dynamics. I took electives in commerce. I took my electives through
Indigenous Governance (IGOV) and I did all the leadership courses through IGOV.
This was my second time running. I had run in 2007 I think it was. My son was a year
old, or just a year. Maybe it was serendipitous because I didn’t get in. I was still hurt that I
didn’t get in. I lost by 10 votes. There were 10 spoilt ballots and about 25 ballots not counted
because mail was in the next day. I wasn’t a sore loser. So, maybe it was all for the best because
I got to spend another three years with my son and not have the stress of the job. I focused on my
family. I still had a job fairly stressful but I was able to leave it at work, in Vancouver.

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So, this time there was a lot of pressure from people going can you run? There was
[pressure to run] and the difference this time was there was a lot of family dynamics. I don’t
know if you know the family dynamics in Burwash at all.
There are two families, always the story of two families in a community. So, it’s all one
family but two sides to the family. There is Sam Johnson and his family and Moose Johnson’s
children. And we’re all related. So, Doctor Alice [Johnson] is part of Sam Johnson’s family and
they have the larger side of the family. Usually it’s whomever they want in that gets in (to
leadership). It’s always been their side of the family but they were asking if I could run. The
other side of the family was approaching me.
We [Kluane First Nation] were at year seven of our Agreement [Self Government
Agreement] and stagnant. We were not moving. There are so many obligations that come out the
first five years of our Agreement and then the first ten. Were those things being followed up on?
A lot of people had that concern.
So when it came to election time, I called a lot of people. I just told them my background.
I have a degree in commerce. I can understand financial statements, I understand group
dynamics and my previous history was working with 45 BC First Nations from infrastructure so I
have a good understanding of the state of First Nations in BC and Canada as well. I worked with
INAC so you get a daily digest. You know what happens. You’re very well informed. I just
thought “Oh my god, our potential is being wasted because everyone was implementing stuff and
I really felt an obligation. I know sometimes making decisions out of obligation are not [good]
or weigh heavy but it was my family, my people. I can’t not do it, I have to do it and be the one
who steps in because I know I can. I made the call. I know it’s a rarity for the family to vote for
one person but I just did.

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It caused a lot of divisiveness - me getting in. I mean the former chiefs mother brings it
up at any meeting. I want assured seating on council; you can’t have too many members of one
family on there. It’s kind of goofy sometimes but it’s a dynamic I have to face. I’d rather it be a
democratic community than see some of the dysfunction that family representation has been put
on a few other communities. I mean a small amount of divisiveness is a small price to pay for
having democratic process, I think.
The community support was huge. I think there was a 65 vote spread and no one had ever
won by that much in our whole history.
I ran from Vancouver. I was still working and I had to notify my bosses and of course
working for the federal government it was a conflict. They knew I was running and the election
date and they were great. There was a great furor when they found out when I was running for
chief. But the directors and Regional Director General were supportive. When I got in(to office)
they were not surprised but I was - I’m in Vancouver!!! When I gave them notice they had
already treated it like I had given my notice. …. So, it was pretty amazing to have that much
support from all levels: my coworkers, my managers, my director, [and the] RDG [Regional
Director General].
Yeah, that was huge. In two weeks I wrapped up my job, had already been sworn in and
taking on the new job. … My husband had to deal with moving and he had a good job in
Vancouver and he says, I am not working for you! After we moved up for university, his last
experience, two members of my family had reported him to Immigration for working here. So we
got married and I told everyone to F-off. Did I tell you that I was a little bit stubborn, holy, how
about tonnes (laughs)!

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The more I think about the position of chief. Hmmm. We did a strategic planning session
right at the beginning. A lot of our statements were value statements, for example, sustainability
and being here for seven generations. The inclusiveness. The self sustainability [issue]. That was
a huge one because it has a lot to do with being economically, socially, get over the DIA
hangover [Department of Indian Affairs, now known as Aboriginal Affairs and Northern
Development AAND], our Indian Residential School effects, we start to revitalize language,
cultural norms, and there’s so much that goes along with self sustainability. We are not going
back to the old ways but everyone should be able to live off the land, everyone should be able to
live off the land. We should be able to have enough economic means that we are well taken care,
we will have all we need. One of the things this is determined on is work ethic. There are quite a
few people whom I work with who have a strong work ethic and then there are others who just
give me my check I’m just showing up for work. That’s a stumbling block right now. It’s
entitlement.
Because we are a small First Nation, management and leadership are enmeshed right
now. We are far from Whitehorse so we have a hard time attracting and keeping high quality
staff. It’s the keeping that is hard. We don’t have a lot of services, recreation in the community.
We can’t hire any staff. We have families who have children who are going to high school. If you
have a child who is 13 and we know we can’t provide you with [a] high school and so you
become a broken family. I don’t think that’s acceptable. That’s part of long term planning. But
trying to do things in 3 years, that’s tiring. And that’s what I had promised. I am writing
everything down. Make sure that there are no blocks there in our three-year term. I’m at the
point where I have 10 months left and we have done a lot on our 3 year objective but we are in
the middle of 5 projects right now and I am not going to be able to see them to the end and

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someone else is going to come in and take the credit for my work, my hard work. But, so I’m at
the evaluation stage right now. What can be done if I’ll serve another term? There is so much to
do.
So, right now I’m stuck in between a management and chief position because we are such
a small First Nation. I also have the personality that if I see something that is broken, I will try to
fix it. If something needs to be done and it’s not getting done, I’ll do it. That’s me; I can’t walk
by and see something wrong, I have to pick it up. I have a hard time when other people just walk
by. We are trying to instill that into the organization. The organization dynamic right now is that
some have self selected out, some are not team players and not workers, they may believe in the
vision but they may not actually want to participate, they have fallen off the wagon. Which is
good because the idea of a strong team is really reliant on everyone participating. It is not just
the strongest two or three that is going to get us through this.
Some of the community members that have opted out have other skills to offer the
community. It doesn’t have to be working at the band office, First Nation office. I think that’s
where this kind of DIA hangover is still there. We are trying to get over. I’ve always said, “Yeah,
everyone can be working but work on something you want to do, not just something where you
punch a time clock and just to get a pay cheque. Do something you actually want to do. Find
something you want to do that contributes to the community that does not have to be working at
the band office. For me, this was an eye opening experience because I went to school and into
commerce…, because I knew I was going to be coming back to work for my First Nation, that
was my first no brainer. … I took commerce out of obligation. (Laughs). Again, there is that
theme. I would have probably gone into engineering or medicine otherwise if I had not had that
sense of obligation. Ha, if I went into engineering what good would that have done my

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community but now I see. It doesn’t, everybody needs to do the best at what they do which makes
a strong community. They may not be an engineer in Burwash but maybe in Whitehorse or an
engineer elsewhere. They have that strong capability to do it and it can be a strong foundation
that once you have people doing what they love, their children see that they can do what they
love. You have a strong community and nation for that. Instead of saying, I have to stay in
Burwash, I have to work for the First Nation office and I have to have a job doing whatever job
is available and having that menial existence and you don’t really have that passion for life,
you’re not energized and I saw that after my sister took music and I was like music, what good is
music going to do (laughs) she took music at university when I was finishing my commerce and
she started when I was in my third year of commerce. Diyet, my sister, she was like, I’m going to
study opera. And I was like, aww, you’re such an impractical girl. But she has a passion for life.
She followed what she wanted and I think that following what you wanted and desire and what
your passion is really gives you strength and gives you…so I’ve been talking to people who want
to listen and have said, you don’t have to work at the band office, what do you want to do, do
that. That’s in my conversation with the youth. And hopefully some of that is sinking in. I think
that is a big piece that is missing from a lot of communities. They feel that “I have to stay here,
this is my existence, I can’t go out of these confines: and that limits you so much. I just think
that’s so stifling.
I have a really supportive family. My children have been taken care of by my mom, my
sister, my grandma and a great circle of friends. At home, it makes a big difference.
The younger males [in the community] who have no respect for me what so ever. [They
are] Very condescending, very gender biased. I do know that’s a hard thing to overcome. I just
have a[nother] male talk to them. You got to use what they understand. In terms of a leadership

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table, I think, there is an old boys club, I don’t get invited. When it’s all the old chiefs, they hang
out together. Sometimes it’ll be, they’ll hang out with me on a one on one basis. (Laughs). I
bring a totally different dynamic to the table cause I’m not afraid to speak up, I ask questions
when I don’t understand, I won’t take advisors advice but I will question what’s behind this or I
delve into an issue in order to understand stuff. That leads to discussion and I bring some of this
old school stuff back- I ask, why are we here? We are here for our children and future
generations. We are here in part because we are a leadership table, because we are the leaders,
supposed to be making decisions for Yukoners as a whole not just your First Nation, not just my
First Nation to benefit but for everyone. It’s a dynamic that I thought would be there but it can
be a bit of a problem so…sometimes they are a bit dismissive as a little girl. Well, I’m a grown
woman. And another thing that is unique to women is a motherly instinct. I was wondering
yesterday if the male chiefs have this feeling that they have to fix everything, that everything has
to be good or like you’re hurting, come and sit down and talk to me. I don’t know if that’s the
actual case but it’s exhausting. I don’t think about it at the time I am doing it but I really have to
stop and make sense of I have to help you, fix this. Having to mother everyone. It’s no wonder
why at the end of the day I am so exhausted and so tired. I have to be mom to all. I have a stream
of “children’ coming to my door. I have this sense to ask, how did you behave, what did you do
and it’s sometimes ridiculous.
My advice to other women interested in leadership is to develop a thick skin. Always
follow your heart if you know what’s right, follow your heart. Engage the brain before engaging
[your] mouth.
That [desire] to fix everything in a political context is to acknowledge I’m a bit of a multi-tasker.
It’s okay for me to have 15 things going on at the same time. There will be infrastructure

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projects, legislative developments, and for me I can switch from one topic and another one. It’s a
little exhausting for staff I think. But in a three-year term it’s the only way to get stuff done.
Yeah, the staff is like can you just focus on one thing. I say, nope I can’t.
It’s still a boys club. I am of the mind that we need to get things done. I do call them on it
and say we need to get things done, quit being an ass. It may be political suicide but they expect
me to be the one who puts them back in their place or correct them. “What are you talking
about, where did that come from, that’s not what we were talking about. Half the time they are
saying, what do you think, Math’ieya? I say, glad you asked. Here’s what I think. It’s okay, I
accept I’m never going to be a part of the old boys club, why would I want to be? But I can joke
around with them and it’s kinda nice to not to worry about what they think. I just, they tease me
too- Ohh my gosh, don’t you know she has to have the last word! That sort of thing.

Math’ieya left me in the busy restaurant as quickly as she arrived. As I sat reviewing my notes, I
could hear our laughter above the morning crowd. The bustle of the morning service hummed in
the background with the clatter of cutlery and the clinking of glasses full of juice or porcelain
mugs. I watched as she got into her vehicle and pulled away from the curb and disappeared down
Main Street as she headed back to Burwash Landing. Chief Alatini has been re-elected and
continues to represent Kluane First Nation.

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Appendix E
Chief Doris McLean
Carcross Tagish First Nation
I was determined to get this interview because Doris McLean had been identified by three
of the Chiefs I spoke to about my project but only one of them agreed to being interviewed. I
tracked her down all over Whitehorse from Tim Horton’s to the High Country Inn where she sat
in a room with over 300 people! I stood in the back of the Conference Centre and recognized
many faces from the Association of Friendship Centre’s Annual General Meeting on July 30th,
2012. I listened to the opening prayer while scanning the room for Doris McLean. She was
sitting in the back of the room. “That’s guidance. I was sitting in the front and I got a coffee and
sat in the back after lunch. I moved from one place cause I wasn’t comfortable and moved here”
she says to me. I went up to her and introduced myself shyly to her. She grabbed her things and
joined me for our talk. The lessons began immediately and I knew that this interview was one
that would continue to teach others and me long after I had completed it.

“Before we get into this and we get to know each other, have a cup of coffee. I learnt that
from my older sister. They were going around and meeting people and she had a bunch of youth
and they came into this place. They had tea all set up and meeting people. All of a sudden a
bunch of guys came out of the bush and said, we’re going to kill you! They told them, so, you say
you’re going to kill us, well before you do that, you will have a cup of coffee and we will talk.
We’re not going to stop you from going about your business. So everybody got ready and made
coffee. They sat down and they talked. Pretty soon they are talking, laughing, and telling stories.
She says, now we’re ready now, go about your business. What do you want? They said, so many

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people come into our village and they raid, they want to change our people. We are worried
about our children. We know that these people need spiritual guidance. Then you know before it
was all over these people started helping them. So you know, that was the opportunity to learn
that you can’t just come in and start interviewing. You know what I mean. Telling you something
you learn for the rest of your life.”
It’s more Indigenous just to talk and listen and share - us just sharing and talking about
leadership. That’s much more than an anthropologist breezing into town, paying you 50 cents
and they summarize it and this is what it meant. This anthropologist comes in and says, these
mountains what do they mean to you, to this old Elder. He looks at that mountain and it means,
they are just mountains! What does it mean to you? He says. (Laughs.)
Let it be more organic, remind the people that this is what you are talking about…let
them talk about their leadership. You want your questions answered but the story the interviewee
tells is much better. … Have this other strawberry; it’s just waiting for you!
I gave a Yukon Government interview for the executive council interview- half of it was
gone. They edit lots. I don’t even know if the edited versions, all the good digs weren’t there! The
lessons- gone.
Sometimes your thoughts get wound up. It’s been many years since I’ve been a Chief. I
found that one of the most heart-wrenching jobs. To me, it was a job I got. I applied for the job, I
was interviewed, and I got the job. I was qualified for the job. I knew that. That is because I was
working with people who went through mission schools. Went through the whole rigmarole,
anything that comes along was a threat to them. And so, because I was chief and I was a woman,
it was twice as bad. And before then, I was a woman, a non-status person, never raised under the
Department of Indian Affairs (DIA), I was considered one of the people who had things, you

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know. I didn’t. I never owned a band house, never lived in Carcross, I worked hard all my life,
never been on welfare and nor did my children or mom or dad. So we were not one of the ones
who were the same. I found that the alcoholics or drug addicts were always a drug addict or
alcoholic. They would never vote in any one they never felt were a part of them. It was not part
of them. But there were enough people who knew my qualifications and I came in on the voting
process eh.
I became a Chief because of my older sister; Shirley, who was going to run for Chief. She
lived in Mayo and wanted to get out of Mayo. This was in 1988-87. She was thinking about it. A
lot of people were thinking about it too because she was well liked. In February of that year she
had an aneurism. She ended up in the hospital, paralyzed, and couldn’t speak, nothing. And
when I went to visit her, I kept thinking, that people when they realized she wasn’t going to be
their chief, they started looking at me. You know hinting. I had a perfectly good job. I had no
intention whatsoever of running. Then at the time got closer to the fact, I thought to myself; I
went over and thought about it for a while. My sister, this was 1988 spring. I was in Vancouver
with her. I was with her and I get this phone call from an Elder in Carcross saying, “You know;
Doris, we want you to be our chief, we need someone, we want someone honest. That really
knows how to do things. Would you consider this?” And I thought, “well, I will think about it.” I
kept getting these calls. “Well, okay, I will, I will run.” I came back here and they had my
nominations papers all signed, everything. They went around, the Elders and they took my name
around to be nominated. When I came back, they said, “we got your nominations, you still gonna
run for chief?” I said, “Okay,” I thought to myself, “I know Carcross, I know I won’t stand a
chance to be Chief whatsoever, but because these Elders want me to, I’ll run anyways.” I mean,

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I had a perfectly good job; I didn’t need to run for Chief. I had no desire, really, in the sense of
pleasing them more or less. So I ran for Chief.
Well, I am a Yukoner and my area is Carcross. My great grandparents, my grandparents
were from Carcross. And I had a long lineage of being Carcross. I am a true blue Tagish Kwaan
Carcross person and I thought, “Yes it’s right that I run. I am Dakl’aweidi, Killer Whale clan. I
am from Carcross. Those are my roots and that’s my background. So, I ran.
As we were meeting together, one fellow stands up and says, “I don’t think people that
don’t come from here should run for chief” and he was talking to me. So they are all sitting
there, all smug. All quite happy with what he said. So, I let him give his speech. And they were
sitting down at the table and my dad use to say, “If you got something to say you stand up to be
recognized.” So I stood up. I said, “Which one of you here says I am not from here?”
Dead silence. Then I gave a speech. They had no say. Dead silence. And that’s when I realized;
if you stand up to a bully and they have no say after that. They have their big spiel and that’s it.
That person all through my tenure organized to get rid of me as Chief. I had my tires
slashed. I had packages sent in the mail with dog crap in it. I had my name in the news. That
bully was the one who spearheaded it. He’d come to the General Assembly and he’d be smirking.
I was not going to stand down. I knew that I was honest. I knew that I knew the job and that I
was doing it for the rest of them [the community]. And I had the respect of a lot of other Yukon
people; many Chiefs and they knew my work and how I carried myself. I don’t drink, take drugs,
I raise good children.
Angela Sydney and Daisy Smith would say, “I left my home to come to vote for you, my
Doris, because I know from the time you were a little girl that you were going to be my Chief.”
These were people in their 80’s, who were wise and had knowledge. How could you let these

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people down? I couldn’t. My whole youth I professed to respect wise elders. My dad use to say
an Elder is a person who has wisdom; even a small child could be an Elder if they have that
wisdom. The old people who are drinking, giving unwise counsel are foolish elders; you don’t
become an Elder when you reach a certain age. It's the wisdom. I have always thought about
what my father taught me. You don’t accept counsel from foolish people. You think. You’re
always thinking.
When I went into leadership, I thought about it, I had my eyes open. I thought about it.
When we went to Ottawa certain times, I thought about it. People would change and lead and
others would be out there in the front and how others respected other Chiefs. I watched other
people who lacked good council. I watched the Elders who travelled with us and sought out their
guidance and I always got my medicines and prayers. I always sought that spiritual path. I
meditate and ask for guidance.
There were many trying times and I didn’t give up. I knew, I was a woman, first of all. I
knew I had that to deal with. I was Chief. I was battling jealousy and envy and people that lacked
self-esteem. And because of their own lives, they had to have a scapegoat and they always
thought the First Nations office was Manpower. It’s not. It’s an office for governing. Sure we
created a lot of jobs but just because you thought you were Indian or were qualified, you were
capable of doing a job. If it were a store, the storekeeper would be given a hard time because
they felt it belonged to them. I don’t know where it all comes from, our people would get things
for nothing, and they had that welfare mentality. They wanted things for free or to be charged.
They had a contract person and he took care of his own staff and he built the house and this
person walks in and he jumps up and down in front of me and says, how come our people are not
being paid their cheques? And they are building those houses and they are not being paid? I

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thought to my self, “how can you behave like this?” When you start drinking and drugging, your
mentality stays at that age when you started! Who ever says that, is right! I said that person is
doing his job, he’s building the houses and we have nothing to do with his staff.
The administration and council had a lot of overlap and the individuals didn’t know
policies, administration, and blame the chief (when) that had nothing to do with the chief. So
when I started, I took a look at the First Nation and found out the worker that worked with land
claim that the main focus was settling land claims and one individual in the office and who
didn’t even file their papers. It was all in boxes. 18 years in boxes. I decided that Carcross First
Nations needed a land claims office. That got set up with a staff of its own with a coordinator
and a staff was hired. All the papers went into files and filing and our maps were organized. We
did land claim negotiations. We were front and center.
The structure of assigned houses needed to be changed. We had some people who had 3
or 4 houses in their lifetime. So we formed a housing committee and we developed forms and we
had people to sign up for a house. One house per life was a policy we developed. The Bill C31
people really needed houses and they should have had first priority. We had no more land at that
point and I negotiated for new land by the bridge and a subdivision and by the school for Elders.
That didn’t last long cause you hardly see elders now.
We negotiated for the White Pass railroad because we found that our berries were being
contaminated and killing off the vegetation too. I asked for the fish to be tested because there
was too much cancer amongst our people and this needed to be cleaned up. I also met with the
council and we needed to conserve the caribou because there was hardly any more caribou
migrating through Carcross anymore. We did a lot of policy work. We tried to get a lot of the
elders involved. Kitty Grant was instrumental. Johnny Baker was another Elder. We had the

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Skagway road money that was negotiated two governments back. We decided to put that away
and not touch it.
People wanted the clan system to come back and use that to form government with it. The
clan system and the government system were not the same thing. We were trying to resolve this.
Our clan system is not a government system but a hierarchy system. We looked at it and the
people wanted this.
We looked at the youth population and we negotiated with Yukon Territory Government
(YTG) and we took over the big government garage and the youth took it over.
We also negotiated for a clan house, a cultural building and also seven government jobs
and we renovated a building and we negotiated with YTG who hired for seven first nations
people from Carcross to work there. We had individuals who worked for us two (whom) were
non-natives. They had a protest and they wouldn’t let YTG come in. They protested and we lost
revenue and an opportunity. We challenged racism too. We didn’t get our cultural center but it
went to another first nation. That was a disappointment. We do not have a cultural center, not a
long house or anything, thanks to these individuals.
A huge success was to take over the nursing stations, the health care workers program
and we had a nurse go around and work with the citizens. I negotiated and we got it and we go
the best paying program for our citizens. I asked YTG to hire for the position, Ida Calmegan;
who was a nurse, and she was the head of the program. It’s still in Carcross.
The most wonderful thing we ever did was built a treatment centre. We built the building and
created a board or directors. We outfitted it and created dorms. We did our first Tagish
workshop there. The minute I left, they sold the treatment centre. The treatment centre was gone.
We had the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NNADAP) program. Annie

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Auston was the Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program (NADAP) person and she was really
good at that. She acknowledged the people and she had good counseling skills. Things were
lively and moving ahead in Carcross Tagish when I was there. We had the healing wilderness
center in Tagish.
The Yukon Indian Advancement Association, as a youth I used to go to this group. In the
1970’s I got involved with the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre that I participated in and then
developed that. I started Camp Skookies as a young person when I was the program director at
Skookum Jim Friendship Centre.
They were older, my kids. Marilyn was in University and Shirley was away. I truly
believe in raising your own children. My girls never went to daycare cause I didn’t want
anyone’s teachings to get into their head. When they went to school, they didn’t know I was
working. I took them to school and when they came home from school I was there. I believe that
why save the world and other kids when you let your own go. I remember one time that mommy
had to go back to work, in 1979. Marilyn was born in 1968. She was 11 years old. “I didn’t know
you worked,” she says. “I was in a car accident at work and when I had to go back to work,” I
told them. “Mommy, you work?” she said. (Laughs)
Shirley was involved in politics. We were on the Yukon Association of Non-status Indians
[YANSI created in 1971]. Chairperson and President at the local level. I got quite involved in
that. As chief, I was quite involved. Always somewhere. In the Friendship Centre as the youth
and then on the board and then national board as the president and then their boards too. On
council and chief for CTFN. I’m on boards for everything. I cannot have an interest in anything
out of sheer interest cause if I want to get involved and go to a meeting, I am being asked to sit

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on their board. I’m on the police council, the Friendship Centre board, and Yukon Arts Centre
board. I’m quite involved, still. I find that’s enough for me now. I’m busy as it is.
I think women need to make sure your children are in high school. Your children need
you before then. Other than an evening thing. As chief it’s full time. You need to think about how
your kids are gonna feel. They are going to feel the effects. Your home life becomes public;
you’re always on the phone, involved that way. Make sure everything is in order before you run.
You want to serve. Serve by raising your children and then go into politics after that. Prepare
yourself for running, get involved, [and] volunteer.
I sat on the board when I was younger. This was the YWCA. As a young mom, I also got
involved in the Whitehorse bus service. As mothers, we got involved in afternoon thing or
evening thing. I sat on the school committee and got to go to school with my kids because I sat
on the school committee.
I was involved with the youth. I had to fight for my girls. Marilyn was a good swimmer.
Marilyn was excluded and I fought for her. You talk about prejudice and they sent her and she
brought her a medal back. Shirley did the same thing. She won a medal. She gave up her medal
and hasn’t gotten one yet that was promised to her. She was considered! Marilyn won for
Rendezvous. Marilyn drew this beautiful piece and she didn’t win at school. Her dad took her
picture and she won first prize. Subtle.
We fought for our children to have a place in the sun; in Whitehorse we didn’t give up,
right front and center. That’s how I got involved in politics. I got involved with anything but not
partisan politics. Anytime you say anything, it’s political. I made sure I didn’t get involved
otherwise, I’m sure I was going to run for YTG government and I didn’t. I was asked by all
parties to run but I didn’t.

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I served with wonderful women- Alice Frost from Old Crow. She was a wonderful, honest
kindhearted lady. She passed on years ago. I had the opportunity to serve with Lena Johnson,
Edna Johns, Lu Penikett.
Keep your perspective of life. Don’t get sour on individuals that try to give you a rough
time. Try to understand where they are coming from. I look back now and realize that a lot of
people went to mission schools. They had a hard time with it. Even if they were working for their
cause and don’t realize that and look at themselves. They don’t know they got their land, they
didn’t realize how hard we worked. They wouldn’t know the difference between a department of
Indian affairs band department and the self-governing first nation to govern themselves. It’s
gonna take them a long time to learn how to govern themselves. I realize that patience is needed
and feeling good about yourself. There are two ways of learning, book learning and acquired
knowledge. Most of our people have acquired knowledge and if our people put it to good use in
an honest way they will strive forward n move forward and bring their children. Besides
spirituality is education is to bring our people forward and to run our self-government and to
bring spirituality forward. We are not to forget our roots. Where we come from. Who were are.
My dad use to say before you (move) forward, you have to know where you come from. And I
think that is good advice.
Thank you. Kisses. I was gonna spend the whole day with the Friendship Centre but I
spent it with you.

It was an honour to spend the whole day with Doris. I turned off the voice recorder when
asked to and was given other teachings about relationships, about leadership, and about life in
general. I left her to go shopping with my friends’ mom.

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Appendix F
Chief Norma Kassi
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation
I interview Chief Norma Kassi over her lunch break at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural
Centre’s Elders Room. We meet after looking for a quiet meeting space and came across the
quiet Elder’s room at the end of the corridor. The room has a sunken floor with a medicine wheel
in the centre of the floor. It was a fitting setting.
My name is ……which means great grand grandmother comes back based on translated
to family, our family being of gwattuktea line (spelling?), we share our last cup of tea, is what
my name is. It’s an honour for me to carry on that name and I try really hard in everything that I
do to live up to that name and I come from a very sharing family.
My grandfather had a few girls and a couple of boys, six children. My mom was the only
one that survived of all the impositions of small pox, tuberculosis, residential school and my
mom was the only that survived. Her name is Mary Gwayuktea (correct spelling needed) and she
married into the Kassi family. It is not our family name but we are kinda married into that name.
In our language, our name is Gwayuktea or Elias, is the other Anglican name. Anglican could
deal better with Elias better than they could Gwayuktea and they changed our name to spelling
of it, so we had to work at trying to fix that up. My family is very small as a result. My mom had
four children and we are a very young family. I am the oldest, right now, living. Very close. We
have extended family over into Northwest Territories and all the way over from Takguglatuk,
where my grandfather’s sister. So I have most of my family over there.
In the Yukon, I only have my brothers and sisters who are my siblings and my children
and grandchildren. I have eight grandchildren and four children. My sisters had four children
and my brothers had three children each. We are a very young family and small and we are

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growing. We are quite strong in many ways. For some reason we have been in leadership roles
for quite some time and in my family it was absolutely imperative that we were raised on the land
according to my mom. All of us siblings were raised in Old Crow Flats. That’s North America’s
biggest wetlands and we are the real Vuntut Gwitchin, people of those great lakes.
We were raised in a very traditional way where we lived in tents and lived with the
animals that came from all over the world, birds that came from all over the world to my
homelands and lay their eggs where I walked. I had a very close connection to our environment
in Old Crow Flats. I have been very fortunate to have been born in my home community when
our traditions and spirituality was very strong. The Gwitchin spirituality was very strong. I am
very fortunate to be able to carry that knowledge and to be able to be able to not only teach but
also try to incorporate those teachings to my children. Now I’m in a good position to do that. I
work at doing that.
I moved away from my community for various reasons. In early 1960’s as a young
woman education was no further than grade 6. We had to leave community to get further
education in the south so I was also one of the products of, or shouldn’t say products, but one of
the kids that was taken away to residential school and I managed to find ways to escape from
that after two years, at that age, and came back to my community and basically said no, I’m not
going back. My grandfather was on my side and my mother wasn’t. My grandfather wanted me
to give me more good teachings while he was still alive and he gave me a good four more years
and then he passed on. I was born speaking my language, shikitshaheenlagosakasit (spelling and
pronunciation needed) I could speak my language not as fluent as I should but because I was
away and I do not speak it on a daily basis to anyone. I do try to speak it to my children,
commands, do this, do that. I notice they listen more than when I speak in English that way. They

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know its firm and that a stand is taken. I do try to speak my language when I can. Our culture is
an ancient culture and our culture is in our language, so I would try to live that on a day-to-day
basis in my life. As a result of that, it was naturally, because of what my grandfather taught me
about our homelands and what he implemented in my head. Like he packed me on his back all
over Old Crow Flats since I was born and then took me places and showed me things on the
lands.
One of the biggest teachings that I hold dear to my heart is that one day we went by dog
teams or by boat when we travelled, and we just finished coming across Zelma Lake and with
our dog team on the ground, our dog team had to pull our belongings which was basically not
that much, our tents, stoves, pots and pans and that was always on the sleigh with me. I was
always put on with the pots and pans and the dog sled and put off across the lake and had to fly
across the lake to bring this to camp but we all get there. This particular time we travelled on the
ground and it was an early spring so we couldn’t go on the big lake so we had to go on the
ground and it was a long way. It took almost two days to get there. Gwitchin travel day and night
when it froze and then trying to get there before the thaw. And up there it is tough and there are
hassocks all over the place and we set up camp and my grandfather told me to come and we
stood by the shore of the lake and he said, one day your brother is going to fly across this lake,
he said this in Gwitchin, he’s gonna fly across this lake in something steel and he would tell me
stuff like this and he would tell me, when you are a woman only a card with numbers on it is
gonna be your money and then one time after that trip he took me a lake and he talked about the
skidoo and that’s what he was talking about my brother being on the skidoo. He’d never
travelled outside of Old Crow at all and he had many predictions and one prediction that stands
out for me very clear is that him and I walked to Dram Lake.

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Birds come from all over the world and I had no idea where these birds come from. We
watched them land and fly and all my life I’ve watched them. Sometimes they would land right by
us, or fly near us and they were happy to see us. We welcome them and I know he welcomes them
in a silent way and I know and I just sit there and chew on a branch or do whatever. And then he
says, my girl, when you are a woman, after you have kids and you come here you are gonna see
just a pair of loons here and this means that our country is gonna be in a bad way, our country is
in a bad way. Well that was several years ago now and I saw that. It was about 20 years ago and
there was only a pair of loons there.
So, I’ve seen a lot of changes in my life. And I know that in order for me to assist in my
obligation to seven generations ahead as a grandmother, I need to teach my siblings and their
children and down to our baby, and if that teaching is to go wider, I feel that I am obligated and
trained to do that. My grandfather is a definite influence. Then of course my mom took over after
he left. We continued going to the land.
I have engaged now in my life as a politician, I became a leader at a very young age
starting in class and continued into women’s organizations in Yukon and one in particular which
has an embarrassing name which was called the Yukon Non- Status Women’s Association (or
was it Yukon Indian Women’s Association?). And then from there I started watching role
models, mostly men because men were the leaders at that time. We had strong women leaders
too but those were the women that I worked with over the years. Then I went on to wanting to
speak more and participate more because we had land claim negotiations start and finish in my
lifetime. Pretty much the UFA was finished in my lifetime as well.
So, I watched that from being a young girl, being very curious and wanting to be a part
of and sometimes I was told I was being in the way but I was there to listen and hear and watch

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what was going on and to know what exactly was going on and getting into and it was very much
that I understood the environment, climate, of where I came from, I understand the land and I
have very intrinsic knowledge to where I grew up and so I was able to bring that knowledge to
an international level and to educate the world wherever I went on environmental issues
pertaining to the Arctic. And how the changes were coming, and how they were happening and
that there were areas where we could not develop oil and gas in particularly for birthplace and
spawning areas.
As a mother, we know that when we bear a child and birth a baby, that we want that
place to be absolutely clean. As a mother and grandmother, I know how much it is to protect
Mother Earth and that is my duty. It is within my language and I was taught to never throw a
gum wrapper on the ground, I was punished for squishing a spider, I was told that mosquitos,
they would be very powerful and to have a lot of respect for them and now they carry malaria.
They are powerful that way and you look at predictions like that and I feel that these were my
duties to speak out on issues pertaining to the protection of our homelands. I took that on at an
early age and then became the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
It really hit hard when Ronald Regan wanted to open the Arctic National Wildlife
Refugee Area to gas development so I started bringing a lot of awareness with respect to our
homelands and throughout the world. Thanks to my colleagues in Alaska; Sarah James, John
Solomon, Alice Frost, and Johnny Charlie. I worked with people much older than me. Then there
were the Innu Nation (who) gave us permission to go ahead with those. I played a very strong
leadership role in that area.
And then after that I worked for CYFN in the environmental department and ran their
environmental department. I was also part of the research taking place across the country

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looking at the toxicity levels in women’s mother’s breast milk. And I was part of and watched
that research and recommended communication strategies and on how to do the aboriginal
portions and how to educate our own speech and Indian speak.
And I was able to participate at many levels right up to the United Nations (UN) and
dealing with sovereignty issues. So after a series of jobs and things like that, I did two terms as a
member of the Legislative Assembly. I was consulting for a while and went into more research
on environmental and health issues and then decided to run for chief in my community. I felt that
I had so much knowledge from local to international perspective and have a good understanding
of what was going on, a good understanding of the land claims agreement, a good understanding
of how we would implement.
I haven’t been living in my community since age 16 because I had to go out and do all
these things but I’ve been going back to my village and I thought to myself, “wow I love my
people so much, I speak so highly of them” that I thought “its time to go home and give back.” I
went back and won with a very high majority and so the majority of the people who voted for me
were outside Whitehorse though I split the vote three ways in Old Crow, equally pretty much. So
when I go home, and the councilors were appointed, not elected so it was a lot of training and
education, and developing communication skills and works kills and leadership skills within my
community, within my council. They were mostly women and one young man. This was the first
time in history that there were that many women ever in leadership in VTG. So everybody was at
our place where they can’t trust that process because we were mostly women. I was the second
woman chief to be elected.
I come from a very spiritual background as I talked about earlier, very close to the land,
mother earth and had respect and honour for beings that are alive. Plants and animals, I have

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deep respect for all living things and I tried really hard to implement that into my leadership. It
was seen and rejected as not living in today’s religion and it came into a strong play and created
confusion and infiltrated into our leadership. There wasn’t very long before there was chaos. So
I went in there being a woman and coming with these skills and knowledge. Sure I was naïve in a
lot of ways and sure I don’t know everything however I do have a lot of skills.
We have to deal with as a woman, mother and caretaker being in a position as chief and
we bring to that position a very fundamental caring, connection as a mother, and grandmother.
Not only to Mother Earth but to bear our children. Our priority as women is to deal with health
and social issue s in our community. We want our people to strive to be healthy and strong. We
want our culture and traditions to be implemented and to be carrying on before we leave. That is
intrinsic and very important and that’s what I wanted for my community. Knowing that there was
going to be chaos during my leadership I immediately worked on my land base, building a
treatment facility up the river. It’s on our ancient homelands, and the spirits of our ancestors,
it’s the original meeting place of all the Gwitchin people and that’s where we built the land
based treatment facility and knowing that I would, I had this force against me that I was moving
too fast, people were afraid of change and people told me literally they didn’t want things to be
moved around , like sitting on our people. They didn’t want to move forward to healing, to step
forward to healing, they wanted to heal, they don’t like the drinking, the chaos, the abuse in the
community, but it’s the actual work on the individual that was the problem. So it was cut off right
there. So, the councilors were encouraged to resign. I was left working to try to hold everyone
together and became too much. So there were all sorts of accusations that was happening and
unfounded gossip going around and stuff like that and so it became the best thing to do for the
community at that time was for me to opt out, to step away. We have some very strong and

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beautiful people. Our problem was not only as a leader but across this land and worldwide is
that we now are at a place where our ancient and wise elders are gone. Where our young
leaders were taken away to residential school and many have not dealt with those issues and
many of us that stayed home and tried to take care of our families in our homeland and our
villages and communities. So now we are trying to deal with that broken connection with our
leaders, our grandmothers and fathers who could help us to move forward. As women leaders we
are at a more challenging place to move forward however those challenges can be worked out so
long as you have a really good base of support, family support in particular and try to take on
those challenges. As indigenous peoples we are a difficult place right now. Our traditions and
teachings and cultures are gone. It’s going. In some cases, it is gone. We are at a difficult place
and time. Not only that but the world is changing so fast and mother earth is at a place where
[we have to ask] is she going to carry on providing for us as peoples, not as indigenous peoples
worldwide. I know food for instance, do we have enough food to sustain all the people. There are
7 billion people. Do we have all the tools as women to move forward and bring those issues to
the forefront and start dealing with them? Yes, we do. We do, as indigenous women and leaders.
However, we have to be careful in taking our place, as to taking care of ourselves to where we
can use those teachings and at what point. I think that that is very important. I come from a
strong beautiful tribe, very beautiful tribe and because we have struggled from day one but we
have been cohesive and we stood together, we are alive and well. Mind you there are only 7
thousand of us now where as there were hundred thousands of us. I guess a lot of them moved to
Navajo country where it is warmer and that is all a part of our history. And Apache as well.
Can women be chiefs, yes we can. However, there are men and people who still look at us
as not having the strength to be allowed to be chief. We are still undermined as women in some

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cases. Once we get over that, and I think it is our place as women, to do those teachings and
speak out cohesively and teach those teachings and enable our young women to step up to that
plate and say, Yeah, I am a leader. And you and I are a leader and I want to be a leader and I
want to work collaboratively so we can move forward with everyone. We are at a place in this
world where we have to have healing. It’s fine to play the political game, negotiate with
government but we have to educate government where we are and we have to pay attention. Our
food sources and water sources are under duress all over the world. It is the women who are
going to take this on and start speaking and sharing all over the world. And it’s our
responsibility as aboriginal women to start to educate. We can’t just say, where are our elders,
go and speak to your elders. We are there now. It’s our responsibility to take that on now, to take
leadership roles and move forward. There are no excuses even though for me I tried to work in
my community and it just became too hard and at my age at that point, I have to look at it very
carefully. I have looked at it and I have learnt from everything that I went through that year and
half I was chief and decided that my health was not going to sustain me to carry me on at this
level so I made a choice. I am finding my place now and I am obligated within that circle of
seven generations that I have got to have my place and continue to teach. Even if it starts with
my children and grandchildren and work [my way] out that way. So I have found a place and
learnt a lot over the years. I have worked at every level. I have worn high heels and suits, and
talked to top senators and Presidents of this world, to two of the largest governments and be able
to discuss with them the concerns and issues. Now I am working grassroots and put back on my
moccasins and so it’s a cycle. It’s a cycle for women to try to find a place in this world and
community. If our women are not healthy, our nation, our people families are not healthy. It’s
been our place inside and outside the house now. We need to encourage our young people

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everywhere possible whether they are singing a beautiful song or art or speaking beautifully of
Mother Earth (visibly moved to near tears), or just talking and signing and having a smile on
their face to encourage them and push them and help them forward instead of being jealous and
pulling them down. We can’t afford to do that anymore.
I think that we have been through the residential school, atrocities and trauma and the negative
side of our history, we’ve come a long way and we are righting and feeling the pain and so are
our children and it is up to us to deal with this and move forward and stand by and move
forward and heal. And speak out. We need to bring the power of ourselves, be in a good way,
respectful way so that those young people can handle this and move forward.
It has always been a struggle to move forward, before it was on the land struggling for food on
our plate but now it is worse, we have so many challenges now. It’s worse for our society. If our
women can’t come forth and be chief or leader they need to be then something is seriously
wrong. It is my responsibility, your responsibility. There is a responsibility issue here. Then we
need to question, did I do my work as indigenous people, as brother and sisters, as a family. We
are all related and we have strong similarities. We all believe in the four directions all across the
board, 4 is important, all connected in that four and quadrants. We are all brothers and sisters
and take that seriously. Our sustenance is in jeopardy, the things that sustain us are in jeopardy
now big time. We got a lot of work to do.
The healing centre is there right now, physically on the land. I am not sure what is
happening with it but I am really hoping that it is made use of soon. As any women who know the
community, the hope is that the leaders will make the social cultural fabric of the community
strong again. You hope this will happen. Sometimes you have to back off and do this within our
own families. You know, everything is meant to be. My family needs to learn a lot they are young

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people, they need to learn from me. I am so happy to be there right now, absolutely happy to be
there and I am doing the best I can to rebuild that. I started politics at a young age, I’ve been
travelling a lot, I’ve been away [visibly shaken in her voice and body] from my family, and
children. I’ve been giving away to outside for too long and I’ve been put back where I need to
be. In the center of that circle and I am really happy there. I am not saying I will stop
contributing to the region, nationally and internationally and help with the knowledge that I do
have as well but I am at a good place. I have learnt a lot.
I guess the biggest challenge I took on and know that to have a really good
understanding of your people and where they are at and how change can be implemented with a
cohesive team and that one person can start something but you gotta have a team of people
working together and then the community. It’s a huge job. If you are dedicated and helping our
people grow, we are self governing. Are we really self-sufficient? That’s a good question. Are we
really healthy and strong in some cases? Yes we are but sometimes we have a lot of social issues
that have to be dealt with and that left unaddressed we will continue to lack something, We need
to have that place where our drums are playing, our children are dancing in their moccasins and
dancing the ancient dance and being proud of the your ancient culture and speak your language.
I think that’s what I hope for. I think that is what every aboriginal woman leader hopes for. But
that is a hope and I really would like to help get there. But there is going to be resistance. There
is resistance and it comes from a situation and our past, indoctrination, religions, that is not
really fully understood and if you are going to religious like Jesus Christ. From what I know
Jesus Christ was loving, caring and kind and sharing. I don’t hear that anymore or see that. I
saw that in our village growing up and our ministers spoke of that in our language and I saw

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that. Nowadays I am not sure I see that anymore. When it cuts the other way, it is tough. It plays
a major influence in how people move forward.
There are all kinds of clashes. Our spirituality. It is all across the board and it’s not there
anymore like it was. Technology was in the way and it is good but it’s not doing so well in our
communities. People sit around and watch TV and there goes our talking, sharing, visiting and
kindness. Games, its all a huge detriment and challenge to our people and yet we do get ancient
messages from our elders who say you have to work with that and work towards educating our
people with our education, traditions and meanings and values. We always try to go there but we
face the challenges.
Women and youth advice- its our job to encourage our young people that we are a family
and we should treat each other as such. We are coming to point in Yukon now where our young
aboriginal girls and guys are lost to suicide. It’s critical. Something is wrong. We are missing
something. We are lost. We are not living up to our responsibilities. I feel responsible for that.
And when I have to put a beautiful young girl and because that happy smiling young girl is gone
the next day. That is wrong, something is wrong with our society. If the leaders of our country
and society and villages don’t see that but don’t know how to go about it. It is up to the women to
do that. It is our job. It is in us to nourish, care and teach. We don’t have to worry about the
men, we need to get together ourselves and start being there for the kids. We need to be there,
hugging them, loving them and teaching them that life is a challenge, life is hard and not just
getting dressed up and going drugs or alcohol. We need to talk, you’re a young woman, you’re
on your time, and teach them stuff. It’s our job. It’s our job and I feel very responsible for that. It
is our job to tell those young people that you belong, you belong to us, to me and I am here to
teach you and make ourselves available. There are a lot of us women, absolutely incredible

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wonderful leaders from this territory, strong women and I think its time those strong women
come together and look at what it is we can contribute to our communities.
Role as chief, how did you decide to be chief- I saw and watched and see what is
happening with our young people. The language and culture and way of life is being lost and in
disarray. Our community is very traditionally founded but there are also issues there. I looked at
myself and thought that I was given a lot by my people, I have a lot, and I have a lot of tools by
my own people and why not try and go home and contribute that in a good and healthy way and
try to give back and help our young people move forward and to look at our culture and see what
we can do. But before I had a chance to do that I decided that the challenges were way too big, if
we are going to go that route it takes baby steps to get there and of course it does take baby steps
to get there but in some cases some big steps needed to be done. And with people, they make
choices and make choices with what they want and I am not the only one the whole community is
dependent upon, we all depend on each other, right. The community, each person in the
community has skills they can contribute in a good and honest way but it’s their choice, it’s a
choice we all make.
I’ve done this many times with students and particularly with young aboriginal people, I
support. It’s our job anyway. I just really, I never went to high school for pete’s sake, I got all my
teachings from the land and from all the learning I got from people over the years and I really
feel educated in many ways but I really admire the guys who really take it on and go out there
and get your degrees because that’s what counts in today’s society and that’s what is going to
make our people strong. I appreciate it (the interview).

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Appendix G
Chief Diane Strand
Kluane First Nation
Chief Diane Strand tells a story of change for herself and her community. The section
title comes from a portion of her story on leadership. Chief Diane Strand began to tell me her
story while we sat in her refuge, on the porch in her back yard after a day of work at the Heritage
Centre in Haines Junction. The late afternoon sun shines on her porch looking onto the
mountains. I enter her home and am greeted by Cooper, her dog and am struck by the amount of
frog knickknacks there are in her home, which later becomes clear to me as to why.

My First Nations name is Ikilka (need correct spelling), which means Mother Frog. I was
named after my grandmother, Annie Ned3, mother of Elijah Smith; she gave me the name after
herself. I belong to the Crow clan. I am Southern Tutchone. I do have some Tlingit ancestry in
me but I identify myself as a Southern Tutchone woman. I am very proud of being southern
Tutchone. I was born in September 1964. I am the youngest out of 9 children. My mother passed
away when I was 2. My father is Norwegian. I am also part Norwegian. I am half Norwegian. I
have a very strong Norwegian background, family and lots of leadership background in that side
of my family.
When my mom passed away, my grandmother took me right away and then my father, he
found me in the wintertime. My mom died in February and my dad had come back, I think it was
summer or fall, he’d come back from mining in the goldmines. My dad is an older man. He was
50some when I was born, his only child, and so he’s of the old school. So my grandmother was

Cruikshank, J. (1990). Life lived like a story : life stories of three Yukon native
elders. Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press.
3

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inside the bar and I was outside the bar with my grandpa. And my dad saw us and I was so
excited to see him. I was dirty. Had these coveralls on and my hair was all tied up with haywire.
I was just like 'daddy, daddy, daddy'. And he took me. He told my grandpa, I am taking her. He
shipped me off to Vancouver, New Westminster, and I lived with his brother. He knocked on his
brother’s door and said, this is my daughter, and can you take care of her. He’s my uncle and I
called him dad for many years. He was very generous and his youngest child was 16 and here
comes a 2 year old. I went back and forth from Vancouver, to Westminster to here (Yukon).
When I was six years, old five years old, my uncle Elijah Smith had come and taken me
away to go back to Yukon. My grandma had always been asking for me. He came and brought
me back. He was en route from Ottawa, all dressed up in his suit and took me on a plane and
brought me home. I lived here for a year and bit. My dad brought me back down. A year later, I
moved back up. And lived in the gold mines. I had a wide variety growing up and so my
experience was having the urban experience. Growing up I know what I’s like to live in the city
and in the bush. I know what it’s like to be discriminated. I was teased a lot in the playground in
Vancouver for being Chinese and I remember getting so mad, saying I’m Indian, I’m Indian. I
was so upset. I’m not Chinese. I was teased quite a bit. And yet, I believe I had a blessed
childhood in that diversity and that the biggest diversity I see is within my spirituality.
My aunt and uncle on my dad’s side were instrumental in raising me and were born
again Christians. I grew up in the church when I was with them, about 5 days a week. I was in
the church a lot. I just loved the church. I had Pioneer Girls club. Instead of girl guides, I had
pioneer girls. I can recite the Bible. I know lots of hymns. My dad had a coworker and person
she worked with and she brought us in and she told him that you’re girls are getting big, you’re
getting on, and she told him that she was going to help him. She helped raised us, homeschooled

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us in Dawson City and my dad was gold mining. I was homeschooled from March, April, May
and September, October and November. And then we were in Dawson City, in the gold mines.
Her thinking and spirituality was very new age. She had astrology, it’s all about spirituality and
spirit guides. So I had angels and stuff like that. Then my grandma, and beside my grandma
Annie Ned and she comes with the First Nation. She was a medicine woman from the FN
perspective and having that influence. Then my dad, he was always, there’s no such thing, no
such thing. I would like to think my dad, I dubbed him as an atheist when I was younger but now
I don’t think he was. That’s what I always thought of him as. So I had this wide range of spiritual
beliefs. So any spiritual beliefs people share with me or have I’m open to it all.
I have one sister who passed, Kathy Kushner. She was a matriarch of the family. That took a
huge toll on us. It was a huge loss. She was the glue that held us together. She was the one who
made me think about leadership and made me think about leadership and being chief. I
remember when I first started working with Champagne-Ashihik, in 1995; we just signed our
land claim agreement. I was sitting on the steps of the old administrative building, no, the old
social services building looking at the admin building. She was telling me the steps I needed to
do to become chief. Like you know, you’re here as a student this summer, you’re going to work
in heritage, learn about your people, who they are where they come from, work for the
department permanently and then you’re going to become director of that department and then
move into finance and learn about the financial aspects of running our government and then you
can run as council and then run as chief. I remember laughing at her and saying, ya, okay, sure!
It wasn’t the first inkling. I was with my dad. Well, I don’t remember this as clearly as my
sister Josephine does but I was with my dad and I was sitting in Takhini, outside the bush, right
beside my grandmother. They had no running water or electricity and I was like in grade 6, or 7

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and I was doing my homework. Math was something I was always struggling with. My dad was
always good at math. And my sister remembers, I picked up my books and I think being the
youngest, I was spoiled, I threw my books across the room and said, I’m sick and tired of this!
My dad picked up my books and plucked them in front of me and he says, you need to know the
math. A chief does not act this way. You need your education. So, I have a slight memory of that
but not like my sister. She has a clear memory of that time. She’s four years older than me.
I had not missed a General Assembly. Our General Assemblies were so important to me.
My involvement with my First Nation has been such a huge thing. I remember way back when I
was 14. I was working at Council Yukon Indians (CYI) and I was so thrilled with that movement.
You could walk down the hallway in CYI and you could see all Yukoners from all over, you knew
you belonged. I didn’t know this person from Dawson or Watson Lake or Carcross but you knew
you belonged to something. That camaraderie, that community, it really got me then. I remember
I was going to Jeckell Junior High at the time and we were sent to CYI and the aboriginal kids
had in their socials class to go over to CYI and to listen to Dave Joe; Yukon’s first Aboriginal
lawyer and chief negotiator for Yukon land claims, speak about where we are at land claims.
Dave Joe’s perspective on that is interesting cause he says he remembers me from day one, the
questions I asked and he was so…wow, [long pause] it just enthralled me. I was so hyped about
it; I thought it was such an important part of who we are. And I just though, it could be because
of my dad, although he was Norwegian, he was very politically minded. You know the news was
important, the newspaper. Anything to do with Indian land claims he pointed out and made me
read it. I was 11/12 years old and had to read the newspaper and it was important to him and of
course anything to do with Dave Joe, Chief Paul Birkel, anybody, Elijah Smith, anything to do
with my own First Nation, it was almost like a quiz, you needed to know this, you had to know

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about these people. It was probably his teaching that got me thinking about politics and what it
is all about and our rights. A non-native man eh, go figure.
Council for Yukon Indians was such an incredible place. It was the best place I ever
worked in terms of inspiring me and the people there. I had great mentors to look up to like Chief
Paul Birkel. He was the only chief I knew until his retirement. I did not know another chief for
our First Nation. He was our chief for 12 years. There were others but I did not know them. So
when he retired it was quite the deal. The politics here within Indian Country in the Yukon was
quite… I was so proud of the all the leadership in CYI. The Chair for CYI was Harry Allen, who
was a CAFN member. My cousin, Mary Jane Jim was one of the vice chairs. There were so many
Champagne Aishihik First Nation members in leadership with CYI. I was so proud of that. I had
such a good foundation of role models to look up to. You know when you talk about the youth, I
just sit back and say, you know these people were cool, they rocked this world! Yeah, it was a
neat thing growing up in my formative years.
I felt it was the right time to make the decision (to run for chief). The people that I turned
to were the people who were working within our organization. I looked at the management
committee members, directors of departments. So when an issue came to my desk involving
education, I went to the Director of Education and forwarded things to them a lot. I relied on
their expertise. I realize there was no way I could know it all. They were hired and the experts of
their fields. So, to draw upon what they knew was important to me.
I grew up in a bureaucratic environment. When I was 14 years old, I got a job with
government and I’ve worked in government ever since. I’ve worked in every level of government:
municipal, territorial, (National) government, and First Nations government. I’ve worked in the
private sector as a teenager by being a waitress and stuff like that but not in mind, my real jobs. I

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don’t know if I come from a bureaucratic or bureaucracy, because of my mind, my thinking. I
don’t, I relied on the bureaucracy. I did a lot of reading, homework. I spent many many hours.
Much to the detriment of the people, I was in the office. I was in the office a lot. I’m a
workaholic. The people don’t see that. They don’t recognize that. I knew that. Having gone
through that, I knew that. Talking about leadership style, I believe I was of a different mindset of
thinking. It’s business, it’s government, representation of the people as opposed to the old school
thinking of the way politics was done before, you know, you scratch your back; I’ll scratch your
back. There was no hidden agenda, nothing I was doing slyly with other governments. This was
the way it’s written, what our land claim agreement says, what we have a right to and we want to
do that and how do we do that. I really believed in compromise, and talking with other
governments
In terms of the chief, you have no power. Your leadership is reflective of the health of your
people. Having lost the election was one thing but it was not as big a deal as to how I lost it.
That [loss] was huge. How that went about in terms of the lateral violence within our First
Nation and within our people. It floors me to think of how lateral violence across Indian country,
all of Canada is, let alone Yukon. When I think of how people treat our leadership, it’s a wonder
that we have people that want to do the job. There is responsibility and obligation to do that job.
It’s part of your cell structure and who you are. And yet, it is complete wonder why you would
want to do that because of the treatment you get. Ever hear of Lee Maracle’s definition of lateral
violence, the society of people who have been oppressed to a point where there is no fight left in
them except to go against each other. “Lateral violence among Native people is about our anticolonial rage working itself out in an expression of hate for one another”, states Lee Maracle. (I
am Woman, p.11). We don’t understand that, as a society, we don’t understand that. I think we

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need to go through that healing process before we can do anything else, before we can move
forward successfully as a Self Governing Yukon First Nation, within all of the Yukon. We need
that healing.
I feel so, yah, when we talk of my story, my story is a real a huge story of change and how
change is resisted and how a community accepts or rejects it and how we grow from it. There
was so much hate towards me, so much hate. And it hurt. It hurt, really hurt. Some of the hate
was from some people I was close to. When I look back on it. …What did I learn from it? What
was I supposed to learn from it? I think about what happened to some of the people and I think it
is a good thing. If you are able to move forward from the election. Our election will be
something going down, the story that…I don’t know how to explain it! …It will be an election
that will never be forgotten [by our community]. I just hope we all learn big lessons from it. And
I am glad I am no longer chief, right now. I am doing a job that I love. Something I really like
doing. Not to say I didn’t like being chief, I liked that too. But, I think a woman chief is much
more, a woman chief a Self Governing First Nation trying to become Self Governing is new,
that’s new. Then to add [being] a woman, to be young and educated. Maybe it’s too much.
Patience. I should have listened to that mountain. Maybe patience meant….waiting.
Someone would add…what would you want? Council members would say, you’re our
chief, what is it that you want? People would laugh at me, because it’s so simplistic. All I want is
everyone to be happy. How we get there, I don’t know. But I want people to be happy.
All I want is love. To be satisfied as a human being. To be giving to the best of your ability to
your community. Ya, who knows eh!
Yes, they certainly do. We have within our First Nation General Assemblies, a resolution
that once you are a chief, you are always a chief. So you’re called Chief all the time. So within

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public settings and meetings and stuff, I am still called chief. So all of our past chiefs are still
called chiefs. Yes, that is a huge difference.
They do treat me differently. When I came back from my travels people treated me
differently, still am. Am I treated differently by some family members? No! (Laughs) By some
family members, yes.
I was thinking, we’ve come a long ways as people, as women’s rights, wasn’t’ that long
ago when we could vote and how quickly we’ve moved forward. I don’t know, I don’t have
advice except…I’ve always told kids, not necessarily women or girls, to be proud and know their
heritage culture and education to be proud of who you are, know where you come from, learn
your history and culture, once we do that its so much more easy to do that and move forward.
I think the more women that come forward in leadership, political roles are so important. It’s the
women that have kept our family structure going. Our women who know genealogy and have to
evolve and allow women to do …women’s leadership style is different, either domineering or
bossy or bitchy or that soft gentle touch. It s the soft gentle touch that gives compassion as you
move toward change that is a neat strength.
I don’t know. I know women lead differently than men. They do things differently. I see it.
Sometimes, it’s not a good ting either. They are very emotional. I really don’t know.
I’ve always believed that everything happens the way it’s supposed to happen. If you're meant to
do what you’re doing now. I don’t know…I think it goes back to what your elders tell you about
not telling you what to do…
No major words…depending on what it is …the situation because I think it is at an
individual basis. If a woman or young person comes forward and says they want to do this, you
look at can they do it and work around it. I do know this, I believe, I could be so wrong in this

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but the women actually are the ones who do it, they do it without doing it, they surround the chief
and the women influence him, they exude out of him, he doesn’t realize this, this…matriarchal…
For women leaders, it’s the women also that they are surrounded with. The staff and Florence
Joe were instrumental in the advice that I take. I listen to him on issues, political issues, about
this or that…feds are doing this or that…what’s happening here or there…Carcross is going
this…on a day to day basis, the advice was coming from the women around me, more feeling
based…not issued bases. Oh my god, now chief Mervin, Taylor, Linklater that…omg, and I’ve
already had it figured out what I want to say and od but the women help me figure it out, how so
and so do this and that…the women around the men chiefs influence what is happening and
being said.
During the election campaign, there was quite a…it was a nasty campaign. It was
really…interesting when I look back and think about …how I was able to survive, how I was able
to stand up the night of the election and tell people to hold up a chief, this is our chief, now hold
him up. The speech I made there, I sat many a night in Mexico and thought gosh, where did that
come from? Like how…like after, my house was packed. It was packed, people were partying like
crazy but people from the other side were coming to my door and being, standing outside and
saying, come on in, come on in. One woman stood at my door and said, Oh my god, you’re just
an amazing woman! Come in, take off your shoes. I remember one person standing over by the
stove and I left and they had to wiggle their way through and I was sitting on the counter and
Lawrence, and it was, like saying to me, Holy shit, I think our party is better. The victory party
was not that big! (Laughs) and allowing that to happen. I’m being very honest and frank with
you. The election was on a Thursday night. I told Chief Allen that I wasn’t coming in tomorrow,
until Monday. I’m exhausted. We will talk on Monday. We had friends to stay the night. They

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were gone by noon. On the course of Friday, more people came. On Friday night, I was by
myself. I stayed in bed and I cried and cried and I cried. The whole weekend it was just, I could
barely move. It was OMG; one of the most experience was just bizarre. I don’t even know the
emotion that I went through. The closest I can come to is the closest is the death of my sister. It
wasn’t even her death but when she told us she was diagnosed with cancer. When she told us,
that she told us she was going to for tests. She had me and my other two sisters there. There are
four of us; there are five girls and four boys. My one sister, there was one sister, my oldest sister,
and she lives in Calgary. So us four sisters, there was all four of us and we did everything
together. We were over at Josie’s place and Cathy she called us all over tea and she told us, I am
being tested for cancer. We don’t know what it is but we don’t want everyone to know but I’m
telling you guys. You’re my sisters so I’m telling ya and will let you know. I left there and I just
got up and walked out. My kids were young then. My partner and my kids were gone for the
night. I went to my bed and I screamed and screamed and screamed. Like literally, argghhh! The
emotion was so intense, like my whole body was vibrating with energy. I’ve never had that kind
of emotion since. Except when I lost the election. But it was different, it wasn’t the screaming, it
was that emotion …my whole body was weirdest energy field around me. I couldn’t stop crying, I
just cried and cried and cried. It tore me. Totally devastated me I had worked so hard. So hard.
And losing the election wasn’t bad. I had lost by a huge number. It was how I lost that totally….
It was such a cruel loss. It was so cruel. It was the stories, that I had medicine, that I threw
medicine and a person died because of me. Our counselor had died, he drank, he hadn’t had a
drink in a long time and he drank and he died. He was the deputy chief at the time. He never took
his heart pills and he died. That was July. Our election happened in October. Everyone was
hyped up about the election and there was a few things going on, which was normal. But when

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that happened, it just went spiraling. Some people from the other camp, it just went viral. It was
unreal. It was the health of our membership, how I underestimated the health of our membership.
It was almost immediately that things were being fired at me. When his funeral had happened
and it was wow, how can you even…thanks for that power people. Like thanks for that power. It
flabbergasted me. And then someone else died. It was just bizarre. Bizarre. And how just one
little tiny thing went from bad to worse to bad again. It was how people were coming to me and
telling me things. And then I’m campaigning and knocking on doors and all of a sudden, people
wouldn’t talk to me. People wouldn’t talk to me. Look down at me. It was just bizarre. And then
when we did our candidates forum, how that came about, you know people were…hands down, it
was unreal how it was…how debate I won. No question, I won. I don’t want to speak no ill will
against our present chief but the things he was saying didn’t make sense, or he just didn’t know,
it was night and day…that is going to do it, people are going…then the stories would come out
about the things I said and I would be like, no, I didn’t say that, you know it was unreal how
things went to bad to worse to bad again. So, what sustained me was…when my sister Josie and I
were coming back from Takhini, we were campaigning and I was campaigning and I had taken
off time from work and it was the week before the election and I went knocking on the doors in
Takhini and I was talking to people and you just know, you know, I jumped into the car and Josie
was driving me and I said to Josie, I’m done. She said, what do you mean, you’re done? I said,
I’m done. I’m not knocking on one more door. That is it. I am finished. I cannot walk in and put
these people through the agony of facing me. I just can’t anymore. They don’t know what they
are saying, they don’t know what to believe. They don’t know nothing that you can just see the
confusion within them. You could see how they don’t know. I am coming up and they don’t know
what to do or say. It’s the Southern Tutchone way of not saying anything, you don’t talk about

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people. You just don’t do that. I am not going to do that anymore to them, I am not going to
knock on another door. They know who I am. I changed everything here, I put my medicine out
there. I just prayed the rest of the week. I prayed to Creator, whatever happens happens, the
way it’s supposed to happen. I don’t know or understand what’s going on, but you do and I will
allow I won’t resist. I will allow what happens to happen and ya, but I cried. I cried. It was how
it happened. If I could lose the election on a really good reason…
You know even back then I do not know if they are more or less involved than they are
now. I don’t. I think it’s in your general makeup, your nature of what you want. I’ve always
believed, when I look at the history of our people, I am Southern Tutchone and am so blessed to
have worked in the area I work in. I was 10 years in Heritage and I was learning so much about
the history and culture of our people and then four years in leadership and then coming back to
heritage. I have never, I feel that there was never any set chief of one group of people. You were
in charge of this land here, and you were the spokesperson of your family, you were in charge of
hunting, this and that, and it all depended upon your skillset. So, whatever your skill, what you
were born into, is what you will excel in. If you follow the path that you were blessed with.
Doris McLean- Carcross Tagish woman chief. I have never really thought of difference
between women chiefs. The woman is a chief. My mentors were leaders not because you were a
woman. I can’t remember the women chiefs out there. If you were a good leader, I’d remember
you. Most I remember are men. (Laughs). Rosie Glare Smith CYI- vice chair of CYI, a teacher up
in Burwash now.

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