The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation was officially welcomed back to the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) on Wednesday during the council’s leadership meeting.

“Today is a very good day,” CYFN Grand Chief Peter Johnston told a lunch-hour news conference.

“It’s a good day not just for First Nations but for the Yukon in general.”

Johnston said the return of the Vuntut Gwitchin only strengthens the partnership among First Nations in their common goal of forging a stronger future together.

Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm said he believes the mandate given to him at the First Nation’s general assembly in August to rejoin the central organization as an associate member will lead to a full membership by the next summer’s general assembly.

“It’s about getting the work done for our children’s future,” he said.

The Yukon, he said, is a gem in so many ways.

First Nations here are leaders in paving a new tomorrow for Indigenous people not just here but across Canada and the world, he said.

“This is an auspicious day.”

The Vuntut Gwitchin of Old Crow left the CYFN in 2008.

Among the concerns back then was the feeling by the First Nation that the central organization was taking on too much political autonomy; that it was speaking on behalf of the Gwitchin when it shouldn’t have been.

Johnston said throughout his tenure as grand chief, his emphasis has been on inclusion.

He’s been attending the annual general assemblies of the Vuntut Gwitchin for the past four years since becoming grand chief. At the past summer’s assembly, he asked the Vuntut Gwitchin if they would consider rejoining the CYFN.

Partnership is strength, the grand chief suggested.

It will be up to him and his staff to demonstrate to the Vuntut Gwitchin that they walk the talk, he said.

Johnston said he fully understands that he works for the chiefs of the member First Nations; that they don’t work for him.

There is already a lot of work being done at the central level with the support of all First Nations, regardless of whether they’re members of the CYFN, the grand chief said.

He said they’re all participating on commissions dealing with matters such as justice and language.

“When we strengthen the education system, for example, it benefits everybody.”

Johnston said his mandate lies in Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow, the document that was delivered by Yukon Indigenous leaders to Ottawa in 1973. It formed the foundation for the territory’s land claim settlements.

Tizya-Tramm said he too embodies Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow.

“I am that child of tomorrow,” Tizya-Tramm said. “As we rejoin CYFN, I would like to think they are proud to see this occasion coming.”

Tizya-Tramm noted the Vuntut Gwitchin bring with them their experience as the only Yukon First Nation located above the Arctic Circle.

As an associate member, the chief explained, he will sit at the leadership table but will not have a vote.

It will be up to the other chiefs if he will be invited to sit in at in-camera meetings, he said.

Tizya-Tramm said otherwise, the Vuntut Gwitchin will be full participants in the discussions and business of the central organization.

Working together, he said, is very much an opportunity to make history in Canada.

“Every First Nation in this country is working together whether they know it or not,” Tizya-Tramm said.

“Every First Nation is working for a better country, whether they know it or not.”

The CYFN – formerly the Council for Yukon Indians – began as a central organization to facilitate land claim negotiations.

“It has shifted its focus to advocacy on areas of mutual interest in order to strengthen Yukon First Nations’ political power,” says a news release issued at Wednesday’s announcement.