A historic number of women are serving their communities as chief
CBC
Last month, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak pointed out on social media that history was made this year because there are a record 164 female chiefs serving across the country.
On International Women's Day, CBC Indigenous spoke with three female chiefs who made history in their communities.
Linda Innes became the first woman to be elected chief councillor of Gitxaala Nation in B.C. in 2019 and is now in her third term.
Innes said her community's traditional lineage, heritage and authority recognizes women in leadership roles.
"I think women are the foundation of leadership in every aspect of our nation when it comes to family, raising children, and to supporting and healing in our community," said Innes.
Gitxaala Nation has always had male hereditary chiefs, said Innes, and in 1951 the chiefs chose an English teacher, who was a woman, to be chief councillor.
After that her nation moved to elections where governing council leadership was voted on by all of the community.
When she ran for and was elected chief councillor, she said she knew there would be challenges.
"I was pretty aware of what I was walking into, that it was traditionally a male-dominated environment, and I feel like I had to work harder than anyone else to prove myself," said Innes.
When Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier became the first woman to be elected chief in Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan in 1981, she was one of two female chiefs in Canada.
"I think what happened is we found our voice and we became stronger by using our voice," said Day Walker-Pelletier.
She went on to become the longest-serving elected chief in Canadian history; she retired in 2020.
Day Walker-Pelletier said she finds women are more grassroots-oriented where men are about economic development and said she often found herself dealing with social issues.
She said when she was first elected, her plan was to run for one term as she had young children at that time, but people kept pushing her to continue as chief.
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