The Journey to Gwayile'las

‘Namgis Chief and Council has come together with ‘Namgis Hereditary leaders to start the important process of creating a new system of governance for the ‘Namgis Nation – a system where ‘Namgis elected and traditional leaders will work together to implement ‘Namgis self-determination, self-government and self-reliance following Gwayile’las – ‘Our Way.’

We are creating this new system because we heard from ‘Namgis members that blended governance shared between elected and traditional leaders is important to you. From 1998 to 2013, ‘Namgis was involved in the BC Treaty Process. During this time a Draft Constitution was developed by the Treaty Caucus – including Hereditary Chiefs. This Constitution would have replaced the exiting Band Council structure with a new structure which included representation of Hereditary Chiefs.

Treaty Caucus evolved over time into the Title and Rights Forum – often just called the Forum – and in 2019 the Forum decided to develop an interim (temporary/short-term) agreement to formalize their relationship and a collaborative process for working together. That agreement was drafted by two elected and two Hereditary Chiefs:

Charlie Beans
The late Chief Bill Cranmer
Dixon Taylor
Ernest Alfred

The interim agreement is now called The Journey to Gwayile’las – Interim Protocol and is part of the ‘Namgis Blended Governance 5-Year Workplan to develop a permanent and blended governance structure. The Journey to Gwayile’las – Interim Protocol and ‘Namgis Blended Governance 5-Year Workplan were both approved by Forum, and in 2022 a team was established to engage with members.

Here is a brief timeline of how we got here.

1998 to 2013: ‘Namgis was involved in the BC Treaty Process
2013 – 2015: Treaty Caucus evolved into Title and Rights Forum
2015: Members survey on self-governance – 62% of members prefer a blend of ‘Namgis traditional and elected system
2017: 'Namgis and the federal government create a Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self Determination (RIRSD) discussion table. The purpose is to explore new ways to achieve the reconciliation of title and rights, and last reconciliation (outside of the treat process)
October 2019 : The Forum appointed a Working Group of two elected and two Hereditary Chiefs to develop draft of the Interim Protocol
September 2021: The Forum oversees the development of the ‘Namgis 5-Year Workplan
2023-2024 – the engagement team is established and community engagement begins