Yukon First Nations agree on council's new mandate

The Yukon's aboriginal leaders have reached an agreement on a new direction for the Council of Yukon First Nations, but more consultation will have to be done before that agreement is finalized.

Created in 1973 to negotiate the Yukon's land claims, the council has seen declining membership over the past decade, as most of the territory's First Nations now have signed land-claim and self-government agreements.

Leaders from the Yukon's 14 member First Nations met Monday and Tuesday in Whitehorse to discuss ways to make the central organization relevant once again to all of the territory's aboriginal people.

Grand Chief Andy Carvill said the council's new mandate will begin at the end of this month, as soon as the agreement is ratified.

"The leaders, the people that are present, are speaking in support of the document," Carvill told CBC News on Tuesday.

"Some of them are going back to their communities and, because there's been some changes, they want to go over it with their council and come back on [March] 29 and look at proceeding with the document."

Some First Nation leaders have said they'd want the council to take on more of a supportive role, as opposed to setting up a central aboriginal government.

Carvill said supporting individual First Nations, including three that do not have signed land claims, will be a major part of the council's new mandate.

"Assisting the First Nation governments to really breathe the spirit and the intent and to make those agreements come alive and to bring the other governments to the table," he said.

Chief Joe Linklater of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation of Old Crow, which left the Council of Yukon First Nations several years ago, said his group is taking a "wait and see" approach before considering whether to rejoin.

"To collaborate just for the sake of collaborating is not something that's necessarily going to work, because we all have a lot of work to do," Linklater said.

"So we need to really come up with concrete plans and issues to work on."

More details on the Council of Yukon First Nation's future still need to be worked out. Chiefs will now consult their councils and citizens before signing the agreement.

While that process could take a few weeks in some cases, Linklater said his First Nation could not ratify the agreement until its general meeting in August.