Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, February 26, 2007

FORT SIMPSON - The Dehcho's grand chief is pushing for a new way to settle First Nations' leadership disputes.

Herb Norwegian believes it's time to set up a body - perhaps a group of chiefs, former chiefs and elders - to help communities resolve disagreements.

The members of such a group would come from outside a community needing help.

"I think people are desperate and are looking for solutions," Norwegian said.

The concept is somewhat similar to a motion passed by the Dene Nation at its 2003 assembly in Aklavik. It called for a binding dispute resolution mechanism.

However, Norwegian said nothing has since happened to the concept.

"It's never been pushed," he said.

Norwegian said, in the Deh Cho region alone, there have been about a half-dozen leadership disputes in the past decade.

"The leaders have a tendency to get thrown out of office or shut out of office," he said.

Currently, one such leadership dispute is underway at West Point First Nation in Hay River and another recently involved Pehdzeh Ki First Nation in Wrigley.

Norwegian said the exact form of the proposed group needs to be worked out.

"It could be some kind of tribunal," he said.

The grand chief also stressed communities would have to ask for help.

"If people don't buy into it, you're going to have the problem there forever," he said, adding any decision by the outside group could be binding if a community wants it to be.

Norwegian said such a body would help keep disputes from reaching court, which can be very costly.

A court ruling can't solve divisions in a community, he noted. "The battle will still go on."

The problems are internal to aboriginal people and have to be solved by them, he said.

National Chief Bill Erasmus said the Dene Nation's motion might lead to some kind of tribunal.

"We're going to have to develop this whole mechanism," he said.

Erasmus said he plans to discuss the concept with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) as early as Feb. 26.

"I'm moving on it," he said.

Erasmus said such a body could be valuable in dealing with leadership disputes.

"You need a body that people would have confidence in," he noted.

Karen Felker, the disputed chief of West Point First Nation, likes the concept of a group of outside chiefs and elders helping a divided community.

"I think that would be a great idea," she said.

They might bring a different perspective to a problem and act like an ombudsman by listening to both sides, she added. "And they could come back with recommendations."

INAC is also interested in such a concept.

Linda Molner, INAC's manager of indian registration, revenue and band governance in Yellowknife, said leadership disputes happen so often that everyone would like to be more proactive in dealing with them.