A grandmother, or “kokum” in Cree, chose to put retirement on hold and has become the first female chief on a First Nation in Saskatchewan.
Ava Bear isn’t new to politics. Instead, she’s returned to run for chief after serving as a band councillor of Muskoday First Nation for a decade of terms that ended back in the ’90s.
“I went to university and got a bachelor of social work degree and came back to work for Muskoday as the director of health. I actually had planned my retirement for the end of this month,” Bear said via Zoom.
“The election in the United States with Vice-President Kamala Harris, that was very inspirational … I was inspired that they talked about her breaking through the glass ceiling.
“I’ve always been a supporter of women’s rights and women’s equality and I think that was one of the other areas, too, that I was working towards, was breaking through that glass ceiling for Muskoday.”
With roughly 1,500 eligible voting members, the First Nation elected her and she was officially sworn in on March 22.
“It was a very big honour for me,” Bear said.
“And it feels good that there are three female councillors on the band council along with two males. So this is also the first time in history where it’s been a female-dominated band council.
“There are two incumbents. They were on council previously, Beryl Bear and Merle Crain, and then nearly elected this term is Tracy Bear.”
Bear is the 14th elected chief of the First Nation since the first in 1947, according to its website. She also now joins the table within the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) alongside One Arrow First Nation Chief Tricia Sutherland.
“Now we have two First Nations lady chiefs sitting at our chiefs’ table out of seven bands, which brings a good balance and (Bear) brings a good wealth of knowledge and inspiration to some difficult times that we’re dealing with in the work that we’re doing,” STC Tribal Chief Mark Arcand said.
“For Muskoday, I think this is an overwhelming success … I know they’re very proud of Ava. She comes with a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge and she has a passion for the people that’s her first priority and she’s very accountable and transparent.
“Ava has more experience than I do … I’m looking for all her advice in our direction at the STC,” Arcand said.
Arcand added how good he thinks it is lately to see more Indigenous women putting their name in for chief and council in Saskatchewan.
“The women that are putting their name forward for council and for chiefs’ positions is very high and it’s a good thing to see. I think they bring a lot of wealth, experience and knowledge,” Arcand said.
“And they know how to come with that calming … vibe and it’s good to see that we have women chiefs that are actually increasing and I want to see more of it. I really do. I think they bring a lot of value and expertize.”
Along with her husband of nearly five decades, Bear said they’ve raised two of their own kids and helped seven others.
“We’ve helped to raise seven other children over our lives that lived with us. I call them my part-time children. They shared part of their lives with us and so that way I have many other grandchildren from those young adults too,” Bear said.
“I am a grandmother to four of my own grandchildren and three step-grandchildren.”
The STC tribal chief thinks Bear’s new role as a First Nation’s leader will benefit from her different view in regards to motherhood.
“(As a kokum), she brings that caring perspective that really enables her to be a great leader. I’ve heard a lot of great things about Chief Ava and she leads with passion. She’s not quick to judge. She really honours First Nations people and their culture and identity,” Arcand said.
Looking to the future, the Muskoday chief said some of her priorities will be developing their own election act, promoting food security and getting more training programs in place to improve employment for members.
“We did have some problems during this election. It’s handled by an outside electoral officer. Because of our urban members who are spread out across the country, some of them didn’t receive their ballots and so that might even be grounds for appeal,” Bear said.
“We’re still operating under the archaic Indian Act and it doesn’t meet the needs of the people. Times have changed and that has to be definitely one of the first things so for the next election we’re controlling how we want the process to work and who should be involved.”
Muskoday First Nation is approximately 140 km northeast of Saskatoon.
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