Frederick Blake Jr.'s status as Gwich'in Tribal Council (GTC) grand chief is just set to begin after a legal battle and yet the situation is still fraught with uncertainty.

In a Jan. 30 news release, GTC announced that it has directed its lawyer to file an appeal of a Jan. 15 ruling from NWT Supreme Court Justice Annie Piche, who found that Blake was the group's "duly-elected" grand chief. 

The appeal is based on concerns that "the courtSA国际影视传媒檚 decision has the potential to undermine the GTCSA国际影视传媒檚 ability to make decisions under its own Indigenous governance and authority," according to the news release. 

"The GTC is the representative government of all GwichSA国际影视传媒檌n participants," it states. "It is important that when disputes arise, decisions are made in accordance with our own GwichSA国际影视传媒檌n laws and values... The GTC is concerned that the decision has the potential to reduce the GTCSA国际影视传媒檚 Indigenous governance authority to that of a not-for-profit corporation only. This ruling could impact all Indigenous governments that are also incorporated bodies."

Blake was elected grand chief on Aug. 19, 2024, defeating incumbent Ken Kyikavichik 604 votes to 515. The day after the election, Kyikavichik filed a complaint with the GTC Elections Committee calling for a new election based on four alleged violations of the organization's election rules by Blake and members of his campaign.  

Specifically, Kyikavichik alleged the timing of a lawsuit filed by the Gwichya Gwich'in Council with the NWT Supreme Court was meant to influence voters, that some voters created social media posts intended to discredit him, that houses in Fort McPherson had Blake campaign signs installed in their lawns without consent, and that Blake exceeded the $10,000 spending cap for the campaign.

After an extensive review, Piche decided there was some merit to some of those allegations, but not enough to warrant a new election, or to prevent Blake from becoming grand chief.

"Having conducted my own review of the evidence, I conclude that Mr. Blake did breach the GTC elections rules when he failed to comply with the deadline to provide all the receipts for his personal campaign expenses," the judge said at the time. "I also find, based on the evidence before me, that two GTC participant members on the Blake campaign team breached the GTC elections rules when they posted libellous comments about Mr. Kyikavichik on social media. However, these violations were not sufficient to call the results of the entire election into question."