Kelly McLeod has been elected to a new four-year term as President of the Nihtat Gwich’in Council.
The organization, which represents the Gwich’in of Inuvik, held an election on Monday. Online voting also took place for eligible voters who live too far away to vote in person.
Polls closed at 8pm.
In a short message just before 8:45pm, a Facebook page established to carry out the election declared McLeod the winner by 194 votes to challenger Wanda McDonald’s 70.
His re-election comes after a year of conflict among the Gwich’in Tribal Council’s constituent organizations, though there are signs that wounds opened after 2024’s contested grand chief election are beginning to heal.
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Ahead of Monday’s election, McLeod had told NNSL: “We cannot continue on the current path — our people and our communities are hurting. We must do better.”
Lately, McLeod has been pushing for more recognition of the Nihtat Gwich’in in matters like procurement.
“Years ago, colonialism set out to destroy us,” McLeod wrote on Facebook on National Indigenous Peoples Day. “Today, not much has changed – a lot of lip service – but I assure you we are here, we are stronger, and like our ancestors before us, we will survive.”
McLeod was first elected to the role of president in 2021.
