SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - If the Tlicho Government were a young child in its formative years, it would look to John B. Zoe and call him uncle.

As its executive officer - and one of the key architects in negotiating and implementing the Tlicho Agreement - Zoe has established and enduring legacy.

John B. Zoe, executive officer for the burgeoning Tlicho Government and one of its architects, displays a talking stick he was presented by a Toronto aboriginal theatre group - it's just one of the many "trinkets" he's received over his career. - John Curran/NNSL photo

He is always there behind the scenes helping to guide the process as the structures of governance are built from scratch, ever vigilant to ensure his people get the maximum benefit from their historic comprehensive land claim and self-government deal.

"We don't want to end up doing to ourselves what we were trying to get away from before the Tlicho Agreement," he said.

News/North recently sat down with Zoe to talk about his thoughts and experiences on the trail he's followed to date, as well as the next steps ahead of the government and the Tlicho people it represents.

News/North: You left school after Grade 8, how did you begin your steady march to your current role with the Tlicho Government from there?

John B. Zoe: Back in 1977 I took a job as a night watchman at the school in Behchoko. It was dull and I really lost my tan. There was no TV or anything so I started reading. My supervisor took notice and suggested I should take a correspondence course. I sent my $45 off to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and they sent me a couple months worth of coursework. I kept sending them money, they kept sending more work. About eight months later I moved to the day shift and graduated as a fourth class power engineer shortly afterwards. I would still walk around the building a lot doing my rounds, but now it was during the day so there were always things going on. One day I saw the superintendent of education in a room trying to talk to some of our elders. He asked me to act as an interpreter for their meeting and I agreed. That was the first chance I really had to hear what the Government of the NWT saying firsthand.

N/N: Forgive me saying so, but that still seems like a long ways off from where you are today.

JBZ: Oh it was. But you have to remember one thing, at least I was working. Back then there weren't many opportunities for Tlicho people. Maybe you drove a vehicle for the government in your community, went to work for the Hudson's Bay Company, or got paid for spending a few hours a week in a little convenience store - that was it. For everyone else, if you caught a fish, you ate that night. Otherwise there was a good chance you might not.

N/N: Where did you go from there?

JBZ: I continued helping as translator and got to know the issues related to our land claim and self-government process. Eventually I started chairing the meetings. When we made the decision as a people to move ahead with a regional claim, we finally got some funding to set up an office in 1993. I was the one coming in to check the fax machine and handling a lot of the administrative duties as well as being a negotiator.

N/N: How would you describe those days?

JBZ: They were long days for a lot of people. But now that we had an office, suddenly the Tlicho chiefs got much more active because it gave them something to rally around. Everyone began pulling together, but it still took until 2005 for the Tlicho Agreement to become a reality.

N/N: Playing such a key role in negotiating the agreement must have felt tremendous. Did you feel like you'd won a great victory?

JBZ: In 2005 we had an agreement, but it was really just a piece of paper. There was still a lot of work to do. Suddenly everything from the former bands got turned over to the Tlicho Government - all of the employees, assets, bills, lawsuits, you name it.

N/N: Sounds like a daunting task; how do you set priorities when you're creating a government from scratch?

JBZ: In anything we do as a government, we are guided by our main purpose - to enhance and strengthen our language, culture and way of life. How we go about doing that is the really big question. Our annual Ski-Doo trips, canoe trips and handgames tournaments play an important part as they connect us to our history. But in anything we do, whether it is developing a land use plan or setting up a liaison to work with the diamond mines, it still comes back to those three main things: Our language, culture and way of life. Those are our overriding priorities.

N/N: How would you describe your job today?

JBZ: Three years ago I started this job after the Tlicho Assembly asked me to help define the role of our executive officer, which is like the head of our public service. When I started, I was doing filing, taking minutes, organizing the Annual Gathering, but in trying to define a job like this you end up stripping away tasks that your subordinates could be doing. So you bring in staff to do those jobs and move on to the next thing on the list. My job today is to really put myself out of work. Once it's fully established what we, as a government, want our executive officer to be doing in the course of a day, my function will be complete and I will likely step aside. I'm more of a construction guy, I like pounding nails and putting up the walls. I'm not really a maintenance guy. Besides, effective governance is all about new ideas. So we must ensure we never run out of those.

N/N: So would developing the talent in the Tlicho communities be the most important part of the process today?

JBZ: Sort of, but it's much bigger than that. Talent can be purchased. The important thing for us right now is developing the self awareness among all Tlicho citizens that's required for us to build a strong nation.

N/N: What advice would you give to young people in the Tlicho region reading this story?

JBZ: You only have a little time in school to learn and be coached. Alcohol and drugs are traps, especially in the smaller communities where it can be easier to lose sight of the many opportunities ahead of you. If you fall into those traps, you're screwed for life. We need people who can stand on their own two feet, not people who stagger around all day.