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Math'ieya Alatini elected CYFN Grand Chief

Thursday, 26 June 2025 08:20

By Stuart Bonell X @BonellStuart

MATH'IEYA ALATINI ELECTED CYFN GRAND CHIEF (Photo: Panebi Wilson for Chon-FM news)

Former Kluane First Nation chief takes ever the role from Peter Johnston after 9 years.

Former Kluane First Nation Chief Math'ieya Alatini has been elected Grand Chief at the 45th Council of Yukon First Nations General Assembly in Brooks Brook.

After four rounds of elimination voting Wednesday, Alatini came ahead of Ed Schultz with 31 votes over 23. Schultz then conceded, rather than moving forward with a fifth round of voting to acquire the requisite 33 votes.

Pauline Frost, Steve Smith, and Rose Sellars were eliminated in the first three rounds of votes.

After the election, Alatini spoke to members of the media to express gratitude for her fellow candidates and outline some early priorities.

“The first [priority] that is mandated right now is building unity and looking at the organizational structure to respond to national files and territorial files,” Alatini said Wednesday. “How are we looking at amalgamating the AFN portfolio and the CYFN portfolios? So that is priority number one.”

“And one that has repeatedly come up in every single conversation has been the opioid crisis. How are we dealing with a wraparound, holistic response to the opioid crisis? And I think that’s something that we have to work on together.”

Alatini was sworn in shortly after the election and will take on the role of Grand Chief following the General Assembly. She will also take on the additional responsibilities of the Assembly of First Nations Yukon Regional Chief when the two organizations amalgamate later this year.

The General Assembly will conclude at Brooks Brook on Thursday.

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