Gwich’in Tribal Council postpones annual general assembly for second time

By Devon Tredinnick

No new date and time scheduled as of Thursday

The Gwich’in Tribal Council has postponed its annual general assembly again.

The assembly was meant to happen this week. But in a statement released on social media, the council said it was delayed because it couldn’t reach quorum — meaning not enough members were present for the meeting.

As of Thursday, there is no new date and time set for the meeting.

The annual meeting was previously delayed in August. At that time, the council said it needed more time to finalize some financial documents.

‘Step up’

Kerry Galusha, a member of the Nihtat Gwich’in First Nation, was tuned in to a livestream of a special assembly on Tuesday, intended to finish business remaining from the previous year’s annual assembly.

But come Wednesday morning, her link stopped working.

“The meeting just kept getting pushed,” she said. “When I tried to log back in, there was a notice that said that there was no quorum for the assembly and that the assembly was adjourned.”

“It would just be nice to have the leaders step up — and it can’t just be one,” said Galusha. “It has to be all four of them and our grand chief and the [council] executive.”

Four designated Gwich’in organizations make up the larger Gwich’in Tribal Council.

Galusha said that she tuned in to see financial details presented at the meeting.

“We haven’t seen those yet,” she said. “As a participant, I think we were all looking forward to that presentation. And now we don’t have any information and I don’t know where we go, where we move forward from here.”

Infighting persists

The four organizations in the Gwich’in Tribal Council do not always get along.

This summer, a Supreme Court judge granted an application from the Nihtat Gwich’in Council in Inuvik and Ehdiitat Gwich’in Council in Aklavik to take Blake to court over what they’re calling unfair, oppressive behaviour.

The Aklavik and Inuvik councils claim that a meeting in February 2025 was a “hostile takeover” of the Gwich’in Tribal Council and have accused Blake of misappropriating its funds.

The council has also been in a legal back-and-forth over the legitimacy of Blake’s election since August 2024.

At the time, Blake’s opponent Ken Kyikavichik appealed the results, alleging Blake violated election policies. An elections committee dismissed the complaint, and the N.W.T. Supreme Court eventually upheld Blake’s election.

CBC News has approached all four councils, and Blake, for comment. None responded before deadline.

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