New Ogichidaa of Treaty #3 is Diane Kelly from Ongiaming First Nation
Diane Kelly of Onigaming First Nation near Fort Frances was elected this past week as Grand Chief for Treaty # 3. She is the first woman elected to this position.
From Kenora Daily Miner and News
New grand chief inaugurated
By Mike Aiken - May 23, 2008
Less than 24 hours after she was selected, Treaty 3 Grand Chief Diane Kelly was back at the roundhouse on Powwow Island for her inauguration.
The smiles from Wednesday continued into Thursday, as members of the women’s council turned out in support of the new leader.
To his credit, her predecessor Arnold Gardner was gracious in his words of encouragement as he passed on the torch to Kelly, who he referred to as his good friend.
“It’s lonely sometimes. Pray for her, in your own way. Think about her,” he said, during his short speech.
Gardner also noted that he’d finally had a good night’s sleep, and that he felt “pretty good” on the morning after the vote.
Throughout the morning, Kelly was accompanied by elders as they tried to walk their way through an unprecedented ceremony.
At one point, there was a pause in the preparations as organizers consulted on the issue of the traditional head dress, simply because it had never been worn by a woman before.
While there may have been some uncertainties around protocol, the elders still lined up to welcome their new leader. There were many moving moments, as a reception line formed to thank the outgoing leader, then congratulate his incoming successor.
Even though there weren’t as many in attendance Thursday morning as there had been for Wednesday’s voting, the high turnout among the women, particularly the younger ones, was significant.
After the ceremonies were completed and she had spoken to all her well-wishers, Kelly clearly started to show the effects of the roller coaster ride of recent events. While reserving any comments for the assembly, she still agreed to share her feelings on the occasion.
“It’s awesome. It’s overwhelming,” she said.
“I’m very proud. I’ve a lot of hard work ahead,” she added, as she took a few minutes to prepare herself for a return to the regular agenda.
Before lunch, the chairmen of the assembly decided to take advantage of the fact they still had quorum among the chiefs, and they hoped to deal with some resolutions from Tuesday.
These items included decisions on the access road for Canadian Arrow at Kenbridge, the motion to support the search party for Renata Paypompee, as well as the delicate matters raised by elders from Buffalo Point.