Years-long internal disagreements between Gwich’in organizations escalated as this week’s annual assembly took place and the election of a new grand chief remained in the balance.
An appeal by Ken Kyikavichik, the incumbent grand chief who was defeated by Tsiigehtchic-based Sonny Blake in Monday’s election according to preliminary results, is ongoing.
“There were false accusations and statements that potentially impacted the outcome,” Kyikavichik said earlier this week, explaining his appeal, without providing specific examples.
As the Gwich’in Annual Assembly began in Aklavik, the Gwichya Gwich’in Council – also based in Tsiigehtchic – issued a news release declaring that the Gwich’in Tribal Council had refused to accept its delegates for that assembly.
Each of the four designated Gwich’in organizations, of which the GGC is one, is ordinarily represented by delegates at annual assemblies.
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The GGC says it told the Gwich’in Tribal Council which delegates it was sending at the end of July, but the GTC “decided to appoint different people, in violation of its bylaws.”
This is the latest flashpoint between the two organizations. Mavis Clark, the GGC president, was held by the GTC to have been permanently removed in a vote at last year’s assembly. Later that year, the GGC said the GTC had appointed someone “falsely claiming” to be the new GCC executive director.
This summer, the GGC took its parent to court alleging “oppressive, unfair and prejudicial conduct,” while the GTC has challenged the validity of the GGC’s own 2023 election.
On Thursday, the GGC said the GTC’s refusal to accept its delegates constituted a “continued illegal bar on our participation in GTC governance.”
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In response, the GTC said the GGC had been informed multiple times that its delegates at this week’s assembly would be chosen by the GTC “given the current operational situation.”
“The view of GTC is that the GGC does not currently have a validly elected board of directors. In the opinion of GTC, this means the GGC does not have proper authority to appoint their delegates for the Annual General Assembly,” the GTC stated.
Declining to recognize last year’s GGC election result, the GTC said it was offering “financial and staff support” for the GGC to run a new election, alongside “further support for finance, administration and programs to ensure Gwichya Gwich’in participants are not negatively impacted until such time a duly elected president and directors are sworn into office.”
