'Great honour,' says 1st female chief of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun in Yukon

It's a very special time for Dawna Hope.

Hope was elected on Wednesday as the new chief of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun in Mayo, Yukon.

She received 155 votes, more than twice as many as either of the other two candidates, Denise Simmons and incumbent Simon Mervyn. 

"It's amazing," Hope told CBC News. "I take great honour and achievement, I guess that I'm actually the first elected female chief for the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Could you share a bit of who you are?

I come from a long line of strong matrilineal lineage that's tied to the lands. My mother was born and raised in Mayo. My grandmother is Maisie Mai Morberg. My great grandmother is Ellen Profeit and my great-great grandmother is "Big Maisie," as she was known.

I have a background in education too. I have a bachelor of science. I completed the renewable resource management program before the bachelor of science. I graduated with honours for that. I'm almost through my Indigenous governance degree.

What are some main priorities as chief ?

I think that the very first thing that we want to address of course is wellness and healing. For many of us that are sitting on the council, we talk about that all of the time.

At least for myself, without wellness and healing, kind of the rest doesn't matter because we need our community healthy to be able to fulfill the rest of the roles that we need in the community. It doesn't matter how many jobs we have if we don't have healthy people to fill them.

Your First Nation declared a state of emergency and there were some actions outlined by the previous chief and council in response to escalating violence and drug-related criminal activity in the community. Now that leadership has changed will that action plan be upheld or are you looking to make some changes?

We will definitely be reviewing what has been done to date by the previous council  and definitely will work toward actions of getting something accomplished right away.

What do you want to see accomplished in the first or second year of your term?