Richard Nerysoo (born 1953)Guide Parlementaire Canadien
/ref> is a territorial level politician from the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, Canada. He was a member of the Northwest Territories Legislature from 1979 to 1995 and served as the third

premier of the Northwest Territories The premier of the Northwest Territories is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories. The premier is the territory's head of government, although the powers of the office are considerably ...

and Speaker.

Political career

Nerysoo served a long career as Member of the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories (MLA). He was first elected in the

1979 Northwest Territories general election The 1979 Northwest Territories general election was held on October 1, 1979. Twenty-two members were elected to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. In 1980, George Braden was named "Government Leader", the first democratic leader of ...

in the Mackenzie Delta electoral district, becoming the youngest MLA in the history of the Northwest Territories. Nerysoo was re-elected in the 1983 Northwest Territories general election. He was elected by the Legislative Assembly to serve as the third Premier of the

. His election as Premier made him the first Indigenous person in Canada to serve in the role, as well as the youngest Premier in Canadian history and the first native-born Premier of the Northwest Territories. He was re-elected in the

1987 Northwest Territories general election The 1987 Northwest Territories general election was held on October 5, 1987. This was the last election in which Elections Canada would administer the elections. Election Results The election was held in 24 constituencies with 15,901 ballots cas ...

. History would be made by Nerysoo again when he was elected on October 19, 1989 as the first Indigenous Speaker of the Assembly, and served in that role until November 13, 1991. He was re-elected to a fourth term in the 1991 Northwest Territories general election. Nerysoo was defeated by candidate

David Krutko David Krutko (born November 11, 1957) is a retired territorial level politician in Northern Canada and a former speaker of the Northwest Territories legislature. Krutko was first elected to the Northwest Territories legislature in the 1995 gen ...

in the

1995 Northwest Territories general election 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. In 1996, Nerysoo was elected as President of the Gwich'in Tribal Council and served until 2000. Nerysoo was one of the founding Directors of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. Nerysoo was the founding member of Gwich'in Council International, a body that represents the Gwich'in in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, and the Northwest Territories as permanent participants on the

Arctic Council The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic region. At present, eight countries exercise sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic ...

. Nerysoo was elected Chief of the Inuvik Native Band and President of the Nihtat Gwich'in Council in 2003 and served until 2008. He was selected as the Chief Negotiator on the Access and Benefits Agreements with Imperial Oil Ltd. who represented the Mackenzie Gas Project. He was elected as President of the Gwich'in Tribal Council again from 2008 to 2012, during which time he served as the Chair and President of the Gwich'in Development Corporation. Nerysoo was a member of the Working Group on Natural Resources Development as a representative of the Assembly of First Nations. Nerysoo was also selected as the Co-chair of the Chiefs Committee on Economic Development. Nerysoo served as the Chief Negotiator on NWT Transboundary rights and interest for the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun.

References

External links

*
Gwich'in Tribal Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nerysoo, Richard 1953 births Living people 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people First Nations politicians Indspire Awards Premiers of the Northwest Territories Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Canadian Gwich'in people People from Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories People from Inuvik