A celebration for Frederick Blake Jr will go ahead in Tsiigehtchic on Friday despite the Gwich’in Tribal Council’s stated intention of appealing a court verdict that Blake is the new grand chief.
The tribal council had called a special assembly in the community to install Blake as its new leader after the NWT Supreme Court ruled he had won last year’s election.
But on Thursday, the tribal council appeared to reverse course. The GTC said its board had decided to file an appeal and was simultaneously postponing the special assembly until at least March.
That announcement did nothing to dim anticipation in Tsiigehtchic of a party on Friday for Blake – a party that nobody in the community seemed inclined to postpone.
Multiple organizers said online that the celebration would go ahead anyway, with or without the tribal council’s backing.
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Approached for comment on Thursday about its decision to file an appeal, the GTC said it was preparing a statement.
Blake has yet to comment.
Dancers, drummers and a feast are all on the agenda for Friday afternoon in his home community, a celebration taking place almost half a year after the original election date and with its result potentially heading back to court.
The event is sponsored by the Gwichya Gwich’in Council, an organization that is technically one part of the larger tribal council but which has been through a series of public arguments and legal battles with the GTC in recent years.
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Whether or not Blake will be the actual grand chief by the end of Friday appears to depend on your interpretation of events.
The GTC had said it would seek a stay in the NWT Court of Appeal – essentially a means of pressing pause on Blake’s arrival as grand chief while an appeal plays out.
However, as of last thing Thursday, no indication could be found that the GTC had in fact filed for a stay or lodged any appeal paperwork. (The GTC has been asked for more information.)
Meanwhile, the position of Blake’s legal team is that, without a stay, the GTC’s board has no means by which to stop him taking over.
“Our position is that Justice Piché’s decision is all that is needed to make Sonny grand chief,” said Toby Kruger, Blake’s counsel, using a nickname for him and referring to NWT Supreme Court Justice Annie Piché, who declared Blake to be the grand chief in a ruling earlier this month.
“Nothing further required,” said Kruger. “The assembly is and was just ceremonial.”
But the GTC’s statements this week suggested the tribal council’s board did not see it that way, a discrepancy that threatens chaos in the days and weeks ahead if it is not resolved.
In the longer term, there could be lasting consequences for the tribal council’s governance. How Blake as grand chief and a board that has repeatedly sought to invalidate his victory will be able to work together is unclear.
