Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jun 16/00) - Some members of the Yellowknives Dene band say their chiefs and council should be doing less leading and more listening.

"The leadership has been making decisions without the approval or informed consent of the membership," said band member Joanne Erasmus.

"They are not including the membership in the decisions they're making."

Erasmus said one example of chiefs and council acting without consulting members was a decision made two weeks ago to withdraw from the Dene Nation.

"The Yellowknives membership did not approve that decision. We didn't know anything about that decision, and we're definitely opposed to it," said Erasmus.

The Yellowknives Dene withdrew its financial contribution to the Dene Nation over a year ago. The Yellowknives are concerned that there is no mention of their Akaitcho territory in the Dene Nation constitution.

Band politics are also complicated by family ties. Erasmus is sister of Bill Erasmus, chief of the Dene Nation.

Erasmus said the dissatisfaction with leadership is not being driven by family feuds.

Dettah resident and band member Narcisse Sangris echoed concerns expressed by Erasmus, that people are not properly being included in decision-making. He said members were not consulted about the recent 75 per cent pay raise the band and council voted in for both Peter Liske (Ndilo chief) and Richard Edjericon (Dettah chief).

"Nobody knew about that," said Sangris. "Only after it happened they finally told us."

He said there has also been a lack of notice of public meetings. He found out about a public meeting held last Saturday in Ndilo to deal with leadership questions only the day after it happened.

Like Erasmus, Sangris said people who are dissatisfied with the leadership are trying to keep the dispute from getting personal.

"It's for the right reasons, not because one person doesn't like another person."

But Sangris said his name was not on a petition calling for the resignation of both chiefs and the band council. The petition started circulating June 5, but Sangris said only 26 of the 1,200 band members signed it. Sangris said it would have been too radical a change.

Sangris said people of Dettah do not have many chances to speak to their chief, Edjericon, because he does not live in the community.

"The majority of the people here are not happy with our chief, especially because he's not from this community and does not live in this community," said Sangris.

"One of the reasons they voted him in is the fact that he promised to move to Dettah, but that did not happen."

Edjericon lives in Ndilo.

Erasmus said members are looking to elders for guidance on how to resolve their problems with leadership.

Calls to both Edjericon and Liske were not returned by press time.