INUVIK
The new president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council, James A. Wilson, said the organization has made many mistakes since its inception, but now is the time to begin fixing them.

Const. Justin Sharpe of the Inuvik RCMP detachment conducted the swearing-in of James Wilson as the new president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council on Nov. 24. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

Wilson, who won the presidential byelection on Nov. 17 to finish the term of the late Robert Alexie, spent about 30 minutes speaking at the first session of the inaugural Gwich'in Regional Youth Council Nov. 23.

"We're only 20 years old since the agreement was signed, and we've made tons and tons of mistakes," Wilson said. "There's a whole range of reasons for that, and one of the most important is that we didn't plan.

"Ideas are great, but they're really of no use if we don't attach a business plan to them," he continued. "There are many reasons for failure, there are many unknowns."

One of the crucial mistakes, Wilson said, is that the tribal council hasn't "been involving everyone as much as we can."

"We cannot work in isolation, we've got to be able to get the thoughts of the beneficiaries and other organizations and the communities as well. To be involved as part of the organization hasn't been happening as much over the last little while. We tend to have a lot of not-so-good relationships, and we need to rebuild that. It's going to take a while. We have a huge job to fill in the next few years, and we have to learn from our mistakes."

The youth councillors listened with interest to Wilson's comment, and Katherine Sittichinli, the newly-elected president of the youth council, asked Wilson to outline his background.

Wilson said he had spent much of his career in human resources and communications, largely at the federal level.

He had been contemplating at least semi-retiring, he told the group, and had decided to move to Vancouver Island before he began considering making a run for the presidency of the Gwich'in Tribal Council.

"I even had a spot picked out," he said wryly.

While his heart was leading him further south, Wilson said he couldn't ignore the people who began to ask him if he might consider running for office.

He had never seriously considered being the head of the tribal council, he told Sittichinli, except possibly at 3 a.m. on a sleepless night when he was busy solving "the problems of the world."

Sittichinli politely pressed Wilson further on his priorities. He said there would have to be a "transition" period where he evaluates the organization and determines what, if any, changes need to be made.

He said one thing he wants to do is make far better use of modern communications technology.

Wilson said he's not certain if the tribal council's technology and cyber-presence needs to be completely renovated or not, but it's an issue that's on the table.

"It's going to take some time, and I'm going to need some information," he said.

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