Jonathan FSIN’s first female chief
SASKATOON — Kimberly Jonathan’s first official visit as leader of Saskatchewan’s 74 First Nations will not be to the provincial legislature, to corporate offices of resource companies, or even to an assembly of fellow chiefs.
Those appointments will happen soon enough. She’s headed 850 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon to Hatchet Lake Debesuline Nation at Wollaston Lake, for a youth wellness gathering.
“We are the voice of the voiceless. It’s not about me — it’s about our people,” Jonathan said in an interview at the FSIN offices in Sutherland on Thursday.
Jonathan is now chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations — the first woman to hold the post in its 67 years of existence.
After FSIN Chief Perry Bellegarde was elected national chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) this week, Jonathan, as first FSIN vice-chief, moved into the top FSIN job. After the recent election of Heather Bear, two of the four serving FSIN executives are now female.
Jonathan, who was elected as the FSIN’s first vice-chief in 2012, will serve as interim provincial leader until an assembly in October 2015.
She was in Winnipeg for Bellegarde’s victory, and drove through the night back to Saskatoon to spend a day at the office before heading to Wollaston.
Jonathan said she and the vicechiefs will continue to fight for treaty and inherent rights, as they did with Bellegarde. She pledged to work hard on issues ranging from reserve housing to children in care to missing and murdered indigenous women.
She said she’s honoured to be the first female FSIN chief.
“It’s exciting for our baby girls out there. I’m seeing the empowerment in our communities,” she remarked.
FSIN vice-chief Bobby Cameron lauded the leadership of Jonathan, a former health and education manager for the Prince Albert Grand Council.
“Women have always been our leaders — in the homes, in life, in the workplace. Now more and more women are seeking political office,” he said in an interview.
Women occupy other significant positions in First Nations politics across the province.
Chief Tammy Cook-Searson leads the province’s largest First Nation, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. One of the longest-serving chiefs in Canada, Marie-Anne Daywalker-Pelletier, serves the Okanese First Nation in southern Saskatchewan. Roughly one-quarter of all band councillors in the province are currently female — a higher ratio than in the Saskatchewan legislature.
Cook-Searson congratulated Bellegarde and Jonathan, saying it’s significant for youth to have strong female role models.
“It shows the changing times,” Cook-Searson said. “I’m confident we’ll remain strong.”