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INUVIK
The day after Robert Arthur Alexie was elected president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council, he posted his plans, thoughts and thanks to Facebook.

Newly elected Gwich'in Tribal Council vice-president Norman Snowshoe, left, and president Robert Arthur Alexie, stand with former president, Richard Nerysoo, and former vice president, Mary Ann Ross in a symbolic formal exchange of the GTC executive office in Inuvik. - photo courtesy of Larry Frolick of the Gwich'in Tribal Council

The social media outlet had been a powerful tool throughout his campaign, allowing him to post letters to the current executive, pictures of his community visits, and blog-like notes that kept beneficiaries in touch with Alexie's approach to his campaign.

"Facebook, I think, really played an important role in this election," Alexie said.

"I get a lot of feedback from my blogs on Facebook. People like them, people share them, people comment on them. I think that's how you can judge that people are reading it."

Alexie's page has many signs of frequent readers including one comment which likened him to the Gwich'in's very own Barak Obama. His posts are met with expressions of thanks, congratulations, and words of advice.

Bobbie Jo Greenland, a Gwich'in beneficiary, said she can appreciate some of the negative comments on the page because it is an example of how Gwich'in voters have been encouraged to share their voice. "For the most part I think it's positive and developing communication," she said. "It's helping us be connected even though we're not physically in the same community."

Greenland posted her opinion about a condo the Gwich'in Tribal Council owns in Yellowknife to Alexie's Facebook page, raising points about the benefits of keeping the condo to save on hotel costs for travelling Gwich'in officials. The post was in response to Alexie's recommendation that the condo be sold to save approximately $26,000 per year in various maintenance costs and bills.

"For one, I'm glad he's Facebook savvy," said Greenland. "I think it's really great, you know, living in a community where he's not accessible in a walk-into-his-office sort of thing ... He puts posts and he puts his ideas on there so it gives me an opportunity as a beneficiary to share my own thoughts and my own advice so he can hear from the people.

"I think it's like an online meeting that never ends."

Alexie said decisions, including any on the condo, will all be made after holding more conversations with beneficiaries and looking further into the decisions of the last executive.

"Basically what we're going to have to do is learn as much as we can from what is going on because we're as much in the dark as everyone," he said. "We want to know what's going on and then we want to take it to the people and say this is what's happening. That's the important part of this time. Probably in the next couple months to a year we'll certainly be going to the communities and asking 'what are your priorities?' and then we'll formulate a plan from that."

Philip Blake, chief of the Gwichya Gwich'in Council in Tsiigehtchic, said he's glad to see Alexie visiting the Gwich'in communities and is optimistic that this is a sign of a council committed to developing a platform that will address the needs of each community.

Among the decisions Alexie has up for discussion is the lawsuit the last GTC executive office launched against the territorial government regarding their alleged lack of consultation and accommodation during the devolution agreement in principle.

"That's something I'm going to have to discuss with not only the board of directors (but also) the previous (administration)," Alexie said. "We're certainly going to take a long hard look at it and see if its to our benefit and then a decision will be made."

Alexie said one issue he would like to start addressing soon is the development of life-planning education programs for youth in small communities that will provide them with guidance after graduating high school.

"One of the big concerns I've heard from the smaller communities is a lot of these students don't have the knowledge to (go) from living in a small community (to) some place like Edmonton, or even Yellowknife," he said. "Where do they go for groceries? How do they rent a place? Where do they pay their bills? Where do they get their money to pay the bills? Things like that we need to address."

Alexie said he planned to attend the Gwich'in annual gatherings in both Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic last week and had notified Aklavik and Inuvik that he would like to attend theirs as well once the dates are set.

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