The months of conflict in Ouje-Bougoumou over last July’s election for chief have taken their toll on the community, said embattled Chief Louise Wapachee in a statement last month.
“This ordeal has caused hurt, confusion, relaying of wrong information, targeting of certain people and dissension among the people,” the chief said.
The debate has “caused a rippling effect to our children, youth, Elders and to other communities,” Wapachee said. She added that the problems have “caused stalling in the major community decisions that require immediate attention.”
After the election, Wapachee was beset by allegations of a former band council member, Joseph Shecapio-Blacksmith, who said she shouldn’t have run for chief while holding the job of band treasurer. He pointed to a community bylaw that he said prohibits exactly this situation.
But an investigation by the Cree-Naskapi Commission didn’t support the claim that there was wrong-doing.
An Elder had also come forward to say he had been told who to vote for. His grand-daughter later disputed this claim, saying the Elder confused what happened.
Nevertheless, these and other disputes (for example, Wapachee’s unsuccessful attempt to cut the hundreds of thousands of dollars in “recognition awards” received by the former chief and council) eventually led to the community voting to hold another election.
In her statement, Wapachee denied any wrong-doing. “It is sad to see that a community that has won an international award has to go
through such pain that will create an enormous scar to the community and the people. I believe when we let issues control us they take the best out of us,” she said.
“It is hard to please everyone. We have to sacrifice a lot to show people that there was no wrong-doing.”
A date is not yet set for the re-election. Community members had expressed a desire to change the bylaw to get rid of a number of ambiguities and loopholes.
On December 17, the community held an assembly to discuss the bylaw, but decided to postpone the discussion until a Cree translation of the bylaw is done.
But unbeknownst to many residents, members of the band council had already gone ahead on December 2 to change the bylaw.
In an unusual move, the band council meeting was called without the knowledge of Wapachee and the corporate secretary. The chief and some council members didn’t attend, according to one band official, who asked to remain anonymous.
“To me it (the meeting) was quite a surprise. I don’t think a lot of people in the community knew what was going on,” said the official. “I knew something fishy was going on.”
The Dec. 2 meeting apparently did have a quorum and the changes are now official. A band official said the amendments couldn’t be released to The Nation yet.
The official said Wapachee agrees that the bylaw should be changed, but wants the whole community involved in discussing it. Wapachee herself was in meetings and couldn’t be reached despite several calls.
