Lawrence Neyando elected Inuvik Native Band chief

Lawrence Neyandoisthe new chief of theInuvikNative Band.

He beatJames B. Firth and acting chief Melba Mitchell in yesterday's election, the first in five years.

Neyandohas served as a councilor on theNihtat Gwich'in Council for the past year, and he works for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Neyando was elected with 62 votes, according to preliminary results. Firth received 49, while Mitchell received 9.

For more than a year, the band was being run by an acting chief and only three council members. Neyandosays his main goal is revitalizing the band.

• Long-overdue Inuvik Native Band election to be held in March

"I want to try to get more interest back in the band. Because if you look at the elections result there was a really low turnout, like 33 per cent," Neyando told the CBC.

"I want to get younger members [involved], give them some more knowledge, and I want to be able to step away from this in three years and have a younger chief step up, and at the same time, them bring in younger people.

"Then you have a totally new leadership, new ideas and just keep going from there."

Neyandosays he's also planning to work with other Inuvik leaders to find economic opportunities for band members.

"Inuvik's sort of quiet right now, it's hurting a lot. So it would be nice to get some ideas on the table and see what we could do for our Inuvik members and community."

The seven Inuvik Native Band councilorpositions were acclaimed in January.