An election between three candidates with Northern Manitoba roots for grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) saw the incumbent re-elected July 14.
Arlen Dumas, a member of and former chief of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation at Pukatawagan, received 38 of 57 votes on the second ballot, according to CBC News. Dumas, who was first elected as AMC grand chief in 2017, beat out Sheila North, a member of Bunibonibee Cree Nation at Oxford House, and David Harper, of Garden Hill First Nation.
North was grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), an advocacy organization that represents a couple dozen Northern Manitoba First Nations, from 2015 to 2018 before running unsuccessfully for grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN).
Harper preceded North as MKO grand chief, holding the position for two terms beginning in 2009 before being defeated by North in the 2015 election.
The Manitoba chiefs also elected Cindy Woodhouse as the new AFN regional chief to replace Kevin Hart, a Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation member, who stepped down for an unsuccessful bid to become AFN national chief in elections held a week before the AMC vote.
