Archibald was elected with 205 out of 350 ballots cast. There were 406 chiefs registered out of 634 total First Nations.
OTTAWA-RoseAnne Archibald has been chosen as the new national chief for the Assembly of First Nations. She is the first women and the first person from Ontario to hold the post.
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is an assembly of First Nations chiefs, modelled on the United Nations General Assembly. The AFN was established in 1982, emerging from the dissolved Canadian National Indian Brotherhood of the late 70s. The goals of the organization are to protect and advance the aboriginal and treaty rights and interests of First Nations in Canada, including health, education, culture and language.[1] It represents primarily status Indians. The Métis, non-status Indians and Inuit, primarily those who are urban and living off-reserve, are represented by the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP).
In her victory speech, Archibald said, "You can tell all the women in your life that the glass ceiling has been broken. I thank all of the women who punched that ceiling before me and made a crack. You are an inspiration to me, all the women who walked this path ahead of me."
Archibald has had a 30-year journey in First Nations politics. When she was only 23, she was elected as the first woman chief of Taykwa Tagamou Nation. She was also elected the first woman and youngest NAN deputy grand chief and Mushkegowuk Council grand chief. She was the first woman Ontario regional chief.
Many prominent women over the years mounted bids to become national chief but none succeeded until now.
Reginald Bellerose, long-time Muskowekwan First Nation chief in Saskatchewan, withdrew from the race after a marathon five-ballot runoff vote failed to produce a winner.
Archibald got 205 votes, or 50 per cent of the 406 registered chiefs and proxies after round five. Bellerose lost 30 votes and secured 35 per cent of the ballots. The threshold to win was 60 per cent.
Bellerose thanked his supporters and wished Archibald the best of luck.
The AFN lobbies and advocates on behalf 634 First Nations chiefs across the country who each get a vote in selecting the national chief. More than 900,000 registered First Nations individuals across the country don't get to vote.
Archibald now faces the daunting task of building consensus among the 634 First Nations chiefs across the country.
The AFN is currently involved in child-welfare issues such as human rights tribunal litigation, legislation asserting First Nations jurisdiction over kids in care, and a class action against Canada seeking damages for kids unnecessarily scooped from their homes.
She succeeds Perry Bellegarde, who announced in December that he would not seek a third term.
