STONEY NAKODA – Re-elected Goodstoney First Nation Chief Clifford Poucette and Coun. Krista Hunter will work alongside a trio of newly elected band councillors to serve on Stoney Tribal Council.
On election day Friday (Dec. 9), Chief Poucette was voted in to serve a second four-year term with 260 votes – 49 more than runner-up Tater House. Also in the running was Hank Snow, who lost his seat on council in the run for chief, garnering 152 votes, and Ernest Wesley, with 77 votes.
Hunter, one of two women on Stoney Tribal Council, garnered the most votes of all 16 candidates that ran for three council seats in Mînî Thnî (Morley), with 238 votes. New Couns. Desi Ear and Watson Kaquitts were elected to join her with 191 and 162 votes, respectively, while former councillor Rufus Twoyoungmen was removed from his seat with 108 votes.
Representing Big Horn, Coun. Thomas Dixon was also newly elected from a ballot of five candidates in a close race between Dixon, with 168 votes, Loraine Abraham with 149 and former councillor Shane Crawler with 141.
Goodstoney chief and council, who have yet to celebrate their inauguration, made an appearance at the Bearspaw First Nation inauguration ceremony at the Bearspaw Youth Centre in Mînî Thnî Monday (Dec. 12), where chiefs, councillors and others congratulated Chief Darcy Dixon and the Bearspaw council on their recent election at the end of November.
Chiniki First Nation Chief Aaron Young and councillors were also present at the event.
All three chiefs, along with councillors from each band, spoke about the importance of working together as three Nations under one – Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation.
“I hope the Tribal Council will work together for the future to build our community and support our young people to be strong in our traditions and language, and education,” said Ear in an address, first delivered in Stoney, then English.
“I want us to be able to unite as one strong Nation.”
Trent Fox, who was eight votes short of Kaquitts in his run for council in Mînî Thnî, congratulated the chief and all his fellow council candidates on their campaigns.
“Krista Hunter was leading the pack, she left us in her dust," Fox laughed. "We were all trying to manoeuvre around her, but kudos to her, as she and Verna Powderface [of Chiniki First Nation] are the only two women representing our community [on council].”
After Fox’s mother, Tina, left council in 2000, Hunter was the first woman to be elected to Stoney Tribal in 18 years. Powderface was elected to represent Chiniki First Nation soon after, in 2020.
This year’s election was Fox’s first run for council and he said he was pleased to come in fourth, with fellow first-timers Thomas Snow and Rachel Snow tied for fifth at 143 votes apiece.
Rachel is a law school graduate, while both Fox and Thomas have obtained master’s degrees in their respective fields of study. Fox and Thomas are vocal advocates for creating more jobs and opportunities for Stoney Nakoda people to work and live within their communities, including those that obtain a higher education so they may apply their skills within their communities.
“This was a promising result,” Fox said of the election. “I think it’s kind of a sign that change is coming.
“We need to establish these employment opportunities for our Nation members so there are role models for our younger generations to look up to, so they, too, can aspire to become executives, teachers, health professionals, and work in other professional fields.”
Fox added he hopes to see Goodstoney chief and council, and the greater Stoney Tribal Council, focus on job creation and housing availability in the new term – two issues he said came up repeatedly in his time door-knocking.
Chief electoral officer of the Goodstoney election, Dennis Callihoo, said the polls saw a voter turnout of about 70 per cent, with 700 valid votes cast for chief and 685 for councillors of about 1,000-plus eligible voters. There were seven ballots rejected for chief, nine for councillors, and another 13 were partially rejected for councillors where they were accepted for either Big Horn or Mînî Thnî, but rejected for the other.
A date for Goodstoney First Nation’s chief and council inauguration ceremony is not yet known.
Chiniki First Nation will undergo an election for chief and council in December 2024.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
