Joyce Naytowhow-McLeod made history last week when she became Montreal Lake Cree Nation's (MLCN) first woman chief.
Naytowhow-McLeod, who beat incumbent Frank Roberts by 142 votes last Wednesday, has promised to tackle overcrowded housing, transparency, and issues affecting youth in the community. She previously worked as a teacher and spent roughly 20 years in Alberta, British Columbia and nordthern Canada before returning to the First Nation.
Naytowhow-McLeod spoke to The StarPhoenix about closing the gender gap in leadership positions and recovering from the economic fallout of COVID-19. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What do you think is significant about your election?
A: (Treat Six signatory) William Charles was my great, great grandfather from my mother's side. It is, for me, a blessing to look back at it. I've (also) always seen a lot of women like Chief Tammy Cook-Searson from (Lac La Ronge Indian Band). I look up to her as a great leader. Coming from B.C., I've seen other women leaders there. A lot of those are hereditary chiefs.
People needed change. I didn't campaign because I wanted to be the first woman chief. I hadn't been around here in over 20 years. When I came back here, I realized things were still the same as 20 years ago.
I'm back home now and I want to do something with my community. I saw people that were kind of oppressed, (with) things happening that were even worse with COVID-19. I thought, 'You know what? I'm going to campaign.' But I didn't think I would be successful.
I'm the type of the person that would advocate for women, advocate for the youth, advocate for the elders. And with that, I broke history.
I've had people saying, "You've made history, you've made history." We made history and it hasn't been done before. It's good to make history, but it's about something bigger.
Q: What are your plans for MLCN's recovery from COVID-19?
A: We have to have an economy, but how can we have an economy if we don't even have an economic development officer? There's money for that, but it's just a matter of finding it. That's the challenge I'm facing. Where do we find the money?
Montreal Lake is known for fishing and yet we don't even have an industry. We don't have a marina, we don't have anything like that. There's a lot of things we have to plan to make it a tourism place. We can do better starting our own businesses.
There's so much to do.
Q: What's your advice for other women running for office this fall?
A: Just go for it. You never know what will happen in the future. Just go for it, if you have determination, if you have integrity.
If people believe in you, you just have to do it. I would encourage (that for) any woman in politics, whether it's provincial or band. We have a strong role as women. We're the backbone of the society.
