Bill Erasmus says goodbye to 3 decades of Dene leadership
‘I’m ready to do other things,’ says exiting Dene National Chief
Bill Erasmus looks off into the corner of his office as he thinks back to his first day on the job as Dene national chief.
That was three decades ago.
"Personally, I never wanted to be chief," he says.
Erasmus was first elected as the leader of the Dene Nation in 1987 and, except for a term from 2003 to 2006, has been ever since. The organization, which was originally the Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories, was founded in 1969 partially in response to a controversial government White Paper that suggested Indigenous people assimilate into wider Canadian society.
Today, the Dene Nation is a primarily political organization that advocates for Dene rights, says Erasmus. A new chief will be elected Wednesday in Hay River, N.W.T., during the Dene National Assembly.
"I never wanted to be up and front," says Erasmus. "I like to do research. I like to write."
Erasmus, already with a political science degree in tow, was working on a master's thesis in anthropology in Alberta when he was asked to come home to the N.W.T. to be a regional negotiator for a comprehensive land claim for the Dene and Métis in the 1980s.
He never finished that master's degree.
Erasmus says chiefs, elders and community members asked him to run for office — and the rest was history.
Champion of protecting Aboriginal rights
Erasmus was born in 1954 and raised in Yellowknife with five brothers and six sisters. His parents, originally from Behchoko, encouraged the kids to participate in sports.
"We quickly learned that we could compete with anyone," says Erasmus, who added that Yellowknife — then a mining town — was a tough place to grow up. Erasmus ultimately competed in volleyball at the Arctic Winter Games in 1972, winning a gold ulu.
My first day of office, I wanted to do so much.- Bill Erasmus
Perhaps it was that competitive spirit that put an urgency in the young leader back in 1987.
"My first day of office, I wanted to do so much," says Erasmus, who's led the Dene Nation since before the Oka Crisis, through N.W.T. devolution, and through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission mandate.
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"I think he has been really, really good for the Dene Nation," said Paul Andrew, a former journalist with CBC North, who says he interviewed Erasmus "too many times" between 1983 and 2012.
"I challenged him," says Andrew. "I was pretty rough with him when I was [with] CBC, but he always continues to talk to me. And to this day, he talks to me."
Andrew said Erasmus was a protector of inherent Aboriginal and treaty rights, and pushed for it above anything else.
"There's times when he was unpopular because of that," says Andrew. "He never wavered in his support."
He's got a lot to be proud of.- Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan, Gwich'in Tribal Council
Erasmus was also a champion in protecting mother earth; he was "relentless," say many around him.
Francois Paulette, an elder with the Dene Nation and Assembly of First Nations, said he travelled with Erasmus to the United Nations Paris climate change talks in 2015. Paulette said other Indigenous leaders had to go back to Canada early.
"But [Erasmus] decided to remain and fight this battle of inclusion of Indigenous people's rights [in the Paris Agreement]," said Paulette, who's known Erasmus since the 1970s.
"He was best in the back rooms … That was his strength."
Paulette said Erasmus was adamant in protecting the waters in the North, like the Slave and Mackenzie rivers.
"I honour him for that, big time."
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Criticism over involvement with AFN
At the same time he first became Dene national chief, Erasmus became a regional chief with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) — the largest and most influential Indigenous organization in the country.
Some have criticized Erasmus for this over the years, according to Andrew.
But Phil Fontaine, a former AFN national chief who's worked with Erasmus, says he was a strong advocate for the Dene.
"He was an important voice for the North at that level," said Fontaine.
In 2012, Erasmus ran for Assembly of First Nations national chief, but lost.
"I think that kind of told him in a nice way that that's not where you belong. You belong here with the Dene Nation, and I think he realized that at the end," said Paulette.
I'm ready to do other things.- Bill Erasmus
Comprehensive land claim falls apart
One of the bigger let downs during Erasmus' tenure as chief, according to both Andrew and former Dene National Chief Stephen Kakfwi, is how the Dene Nation's negotiations for a comprehensive land claim for all Dene and Métis fell apart under his leadership.
The Gwich'in, Sahtu and Tlicho left the Dene Nation's table and signed their own regional agreements with the federal government.
"That, I think, is the biggest disappointment … [the comprehensive land claim] just died," said Kakfwi.
Erasmus, too, says he had hopes to accomplish one big land claim for his people.
"That didn't happen and that's OK. We can't dwell on that," he says.
Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan, the grand chief of the Gwich'in Tribal Council, said that when she was elected in 2016, one of her priorities was to re-affiliate with the Dene Nation again.
"You can't change the past, but I believe that we need to re-establish that unity," she said.
Billy's shoes as Dene national chief ... [are] gonna be big to fill.- Francois Paulette, Dene Nation elder
Greenland-Morgan added she's known Erasmus since she was a child and noted his good sense of humour and passion for Aboriginal rights, "whether it was sitting at the meeting table, international forum, or the kitchen table with my family."
"Here I am now in my early 40s … and he's still involved," she said. "He's got a lot to be proud of."
"You have to be a certain kind of a character, a leader, to be in office for so long," said Paulette.
"Billy's shoes as Dene national chief ... [are] gonna be big to fill."
'A lifetime endeavour'
Erasmus pays close attention to the tall Dene Nation flag in his office, making sure it's always in the camera's line of sight.
"What always amazes me, is when we get together, to feel the autonomy, the independence, the resiliency [of] our people," he says.
Erasmus was named as the honourary national chief of the Dene Nation for life earlier in June.
He says he has no solid plans for the future, but won't be completely leaving Indigenous politics. He'll also stick around to help the new leader with the transition.
"This work is … a lifetime endeavour," says the chief.
"I did the best I could. I feel good about the work we've been able to accomplish, and I'm ready to do other things."
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With files from John Last