Cadmus Delorme talks about his 7 years as chief of Cowessess First Nation

Cadmus Delorme was elected in 2016 to his first term as chief of Cowessess First Nation, located about 140 kilometres east of Regina. 

Seven years later, in February 2023, he announced he would not run for a third term.

Over his time as chief, Delorme led his community of more than 4,000 members through potential unmarked graves being found at the site of a former residential school on his reserve, a global pandemic and the signing of the Child Welfare Agreement with Canada.

Now, at 41 years old, Delorme lives on his home community with his wife, three children and his wife's younger brother.

Delorme spoke with CBC's Louise BigEagle about his seven years as chief and what comes next.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

CBC: Tell us about your first few months as chief?

Delorme: When I became chief, the honeymoon was about a month. You just get it, enjoy the moment, and then the reality sinks in.

The way I like to explain it is you're handed two suitcases as a chief. The one suitcase is all the history that you inherited — what other Chief and councils didn't address, the prior challenges, the prior things that are the elephants in the room that were hard to discuss. The second suitcase has all the optimism, and inspiration, and why you were elected.

So you have two choices. You can put that first suitcase under the desk, and hide it, and just focus on your duties of the day. But we decided to open that suitcase of what we inherited, you know?

Where is Cowessess at now in regards to the Child Welfare Agreement?

The jurisdiction [over child welfare] is now two years and one month old. So when you haven't had that jurisdiction for 70 years, it's not a light switch off and on.

I like to explain it as like dimming the lights. It's going to take a little transition, where the foundation is set, the policies and the laws are all there. The institutions that support it are there. 

In working with the government, we find that where we still are growing is the strategic level. I'll give you an example. We have prevention homes called Sacred Wolf Lodge, where families who are more at risk of have someone intervene in [child care], the family can now go live in these homes, where we immerse them with our own grandmothers, our own kokums, to reteach and and rediscover and reawaken — from morning to dark — how a home fire is stable and and how beautiful it is.