Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 21/00) - It's only a draft, but a proposed Dogrib constitution is already generating controversy.

A clause in the constitution bars members of the First Nation who don't live in Dogrib territory from seeking election as Grand Chief.

That includes about 500 Dogrib citizens who live in Yellowknife.

Section 9.1 of the constitution states "candidates for the office of Grand Chief must be Dogrib citizens ... and resident, except for absence due to medical, incarceration, education or similar reasons, in a Dogrib community or on Dogrib land for at least two years immediately preceding the vote."

That means Dogrib citizens who live outside of the First Nation's lands will not be not permitted to run for Grand Chief, even though they are permitted to vote, according to section 9.3.

The draft constitution was unanimously approved without abstentions during the ninth Annual Dogrib Assembly held in Rae-Edzo Aug. 8-14. The constitution will not come into effect for another two years and can be amended at future assemblies.

Several Dogribs who live in Yellowknife are concerned about the law, as they believe it is their right to run for Grand Chief if they wish to do so.

"You should be able to (be a candidate) because you're still a member no matter where you live," said Georgina Franki, a Dogrib citizen and Yellowknife resident for the past 20 years.

Franki ran as a candidate for North Slave MLA in the last election. She said living in Yellowknife has nothing to do with being able to represent the Dogrib people or the North Slave region, whether it be on a territorial or self-government level.

"There is a problem because when we leave the community it's more for the advancement, for job opportunities ... and I don't see that we should be excluded from that area.

"What we learn outside the community we can bring back in to make a better life for the people ... because of the broad knowledge that we gain," said Franki.

Dogrib Treaty 11 chief negotiator John B. Zoe said eligibility rules for Grand Chief candidates are the same as those for mayoral candidates in communities throughout the NWT.

"If you want to run for the City of Yellowknife mayor you have to be a resident there, so the concept is the same," said Zoe.

He said the Grand Chief represents all the Dogrib communities and would have more knowledge of the issues by living among the majority of its citizens.

The draft Dogrib constitution has now been submitted to the GNWT for a legal and technical review.