Business is now usual again with the Nee Tahi Buhn First Nation council.
Two of the elected officials who came to office in the Dec. 6, 2022 election - Bertha Hopkins and Patricia Mortensen - had to step away from their positions for personal reasons. It left the council with only chief Marcella Morris and deputy chief Mark Morris as voting members, not enough for meeting quarum.
In a byelection held June 2, Joel Morris gathered 26 votes and Frank Morris Sr. attained 18 to become the next two elected councillors for the nation based on the south shore of Francois Lake. Five total candidates ran for the two council positions.
A total of 47 votes were cast in the byelection, compared to 57 total votes in the December main election. There are about 140 members altogether.
Chief Marcella Morris said both incoming councillors have past governance experience, so their skills will be helpful.
“Joel Morris was at the council table back in 2021 as an interim councillor, appointed by the members according to an oral tradition that was last enacted in the 1970s, according to Frank Morris Sr. Joel works as a Community Workforce Accommodations Advisor for Coastal GasLink. He represents Nee Tahi Buhn (on the pipeline project). Joel is now the youngest member on council, which is promising, because it means Nee Tahi Buhn is continuing to guide the next generation of political leaders.
“The best part,” chief Morris added, is, “Joel gets to work alongside Frank Morris Sr., who has served Nee Tahi Buhn almost his entire life. Frank used to translate documents for his late mother Mary Jane Morris, who served as the chief of Omineca Band. She passed away in 1998.” Omineca Band was an amalgamation of First Nations discontinued in 1984.
Frank Morris Sr. was also the only member on Council in 2021 after the chief and two councillors of that mandate were no longer in office.
“He was a key to the rebuilding of Nee Tahi Buhn, as he fully understands our culture, traditions and is a fluent speaker of our Carrier language,” Marcella Morris said.
“We are all happy to be working with one another again, and most excited to get back to work. It was a rough few months not being able to get things done, but we made it. I commend deputy chief Mark Morris for standing with his community in their time of need as we patiently waited for the byelections to complete.”
Chief Morris also, on behalf of the Nee Tahi Buhn elected government, thanked Mortensen and Hopkins “for all the work they have done, and continue to do for their nation. Both councillors also served as staff members due to a lack of capacity. They were both instumental to the rebuilding of the administration, and we regret to see them leave.”
There is an ancient governance structure for Nee Tahi Buhn First Nation, according to their BC Assembly of First Nations profile, in which it explains “We participate in the balhats (potlatch ) system which is organized by matrilineal clans. It is our way to take care of business. Economic, social, judicial and spiritual activities revolve around the balhats.”
The Nee Tahi Buhn people speak the Wet’suwet’en dialect of the Bulkley Valley-Lakes District langauge, which is a branch of the Athapaskan language family.