Dakota Tipi First Nation has a new chief in the person of Keith Pashe. Pashe says he's served as councilor for six years, and adds he's the first of his kind for the band.

"It feels good to be chief. It feels good to win because you know where you want to take your people. You know where you want to take your band. That's what I've always wanted to do for the last four or five years. Two years ago I ran and I lost out by one vote. It was 51 to 50. I never asked for a recount. I said let it go, it's okay. But it was frustrating for the last two years."

He explains third-party management has to end and something must be done about their limited housing. Pashe notes there are a lot of good and smart people in the band who have a lot to offer the community, but things have been in disarray for the last few years. He pledges to bring it back together again. Pashe says they're all related and have to work together, putting past problems away. He points out he was there when the band's instability brought on third-party management eight years ago, and understands what has to be done for them to recover. Audits weren't being filed causing funding to be cut off.

"I want to take care of our children. I want to take care of our elders. I'm glad our people elected me in and gave me the right and the honour to do that. I believe I have it in me to take all of us forward as a band, as a family and as relatives."

Pashe outlines some of his plans,. "I'm going to work with land claims with Canada. They owe us, the Dakota people in Canada, and we don't have a land base while we're a growing population. We need space to put our houses. Our water system needs to be upgraded. We turn on a tap of water and have to run it slowly. A lot of things have to be taken care of, but we can do it. I'm the man for the job. I get along with my community. I can go to any home and have a coffee with them, and in any home to sit there and have a talk with them."

Pashe says many residents are worried if they'll lose their jobs or their rebates, and he assures them that won't happen. He says the element that moved the people to make him chief was his promise to bring change in order for them to move forward by working together and be the family they are. He says they're all related at Dakota Tipi, and everyone wants the families to come together again.

"Come Monday morning when I take office we're going to meet, talk and bring people in to get things accomplished. We all have ties to that Pashe blood, and that's strong."

He says the first item on the agenda is to put the community at ease. Pashe says some are adamant over various things they want, but says all will be okay without anyone calling each other down.

Pashe says it was a long campaign trail going door to door, and he notes he wants to continue to vist the community. In the next couple of weeks he says he'll greet everyone and thank them for their vote. Pashe says there are about 396 band members both on and off the reserve altogether, making it quite a task for campaigning efforts. He adds he will continue to keep in touch with the population informing them he still plans to go forward with what he promised.

"I want to do what's right for them and us. I was on council for six years, four years back. I saw where we got into the struggle, and I don't want to go back there. I have the knowledge in me to see where we went wrong, and I know how to fix it. I saw what caused the problem. It will take a while but we're going to do it with the help of the smart men and women in the reserve. I have young council members who are my nephews, and we're going to teach them how to do it and work together, fair and equally across the board."

He says he's happy for the new council members, Eric Pashe, Kyle Pashe and Juanita Prince-Miller, and knows they'll work together well. He notes they have the same insight he does, and a lot of cultural background including their sundance and pipe ceremonies.

He adds he's the first of his kind as he takes on the role of chief.

"I am a sundance chief. I am a medicine man. I've been there for 30 years, and it's an honour to be elected chief and also it's an honour to be a medicine man. I thank everybody, and I guess I'm the first medicine man to be a chief in Dakota Tipi."

Pashe's wife, Pat adds, "It was good to get him in. It's overwhelming, and I know that he and the people can work together with the councilors, our nephews, and our sister, too. I know they can do the job. I'm really happy, and so is all of the reserve. I love him."