25-year-old woman becomes Manitoba First Nation’s youngest ever chief

Tréchelle Bunn, newly elected chief of Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation, talks about being the first female chief and her vision for the future.

A 25-year-old law student has become a Manitoba First Nation’s youngest ever chief and the first woman elected to the role.

Tréchelle Bunn was named chief of Birdtail Sioux Dakota First Nation—a community about 130 kilometres northwest of Brandon. She handily beat her opponent with nearly 69 per cent of the vote in the April 10 election.

“It was definitely surreal for the first couple of days, but I think I hit the ground running,” Chief Bunn told CTV News Winnipeg in a phone interview.

Bunn is a third-year law student at the University of Manitoba.

She decided to run for the position after being approached by community members and elders.

“It was definitely something I had anticipated later in life. I didn’t think my community would call upon me so quickly or at such a young age,” she said. “It was a great honour just to be asked and approached.”

She was elected weeks after ending her term as the Southern Chief’s Organization’s youth chief —an experience that gave her a front-row seat to the types of everyday governance and decision-making that are now a part of her daily life.

Bunn has pledged to offer greater transparency and accountability during her four-year term after hearing a desire from constituents to be more involved in decision-making.

“They want to have their voices heard,” she said.

“I think bringing back some things that may seem kind of more simplistic, like monthly band meetings and community meetings and gatherings, I think will be really beneficial going forward to uniting our community,” she said.

The nation’s kindergarten to Grade 12 school is set to transition into the Manitoba First Nations School System. Bunn wants to be involved with the changeover, making sure the community’s young people get the education they need to achieve their dreams.

Overall, her goal is to inspire positive change by helping her community to realize its full potential.

“For so long, we’ve been defined by a lot of negative stereotypes and statistics. I think that a lot of issues can be overcome with empowering our people to believe in themselves and to really recognize their own abilities,” she said.