Obama inauguration 'overwhelming,' says Dene chief

Canada's top Dene chief was among the millions of people who watched the emotionally charged inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th U.S. president in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus said the experience of watching the U.S.'s first African-American president swear the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol building was "just overwhelming."

"There's so many people that are happy, that are celebrating, they're shaking hands, people are crying," he told CBC News. "It's just hard to describe."

The national chief, who represents Dene peoples in northern Canada, said he was invited to Washington by the Cherokee Nation and the National Congress of American Indians.

"I was really humbled by the experience, just listening to the speech and being able to be here," he said.

Erasmus will join representatives from other First Nations at the Native American Ball later Tuesday, just one of 11 different inaugural balls taking place that night.

"If we're lucky tonight, we might get a glimpse of the president," he said.

Several other northerners made it to Washington for Obama's inauguration, including Yukoner Maura Sullivan, her three-month old son and her parents.

"You're smooshed into a small space. There's people everywhere," said Sullivan, who stood by the Washington Monument and watched the ceremony on a large screen.

"People just cheered with everything that was going on, and lots of chanting and singing and just saying 'yes' when they agreed with things that were being said in the speech. So it's pretty exciting and energizing."

Sullivan said she she's spending Tuesday afternoon checking out the Vietnam memorial and the Lincoln monument before boarding a bus back to Canada.