Grand Chief Jerry Daniels hospitalized, Chief Derek Nepinak demands answers from SCO

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The Chief of a Manitoba First Nation is demanding answers and accountability from the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) as they remain tight-lipped about an alleged incident that landed their Grand Chief in an Ottawa hospital last week.

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“First and foremost, we are concerned about the well-being of Jerry Daniels,” said Derek Nepinak, the chief of Minegoziibe Anishinabe, a community also commonly referred to as Pine Creek First Nation, in a media release on Saturday.

“As such, we remain sympathetic to the injuries that he may have incurred, but that remain a mystery to us, as we have not been reported to on this matter.”

Ottawa police (OPS) confirmed on Dec. 6 an investigation after a “disturbance” outside of a downtown bar in the nation’s capital last week.

“As a policy, the Ottawa Police Service does not confirm incidents by a victim’s name,” OPS media relations manager Julie Kavanagh said in a Dec. 6 email. “However, we can confirm that just after 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 3, the OPS received a call for service in the 1-100 block of York Street for a disturbance.

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“A man was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries,” Kavanagh said.

A source confirmed to the Winnipeg Sun last week that the man sent to hospital was Jerry Daniels, the Grand Chief of SCO, an organization that represents 34 Anishnaabe and Dakota First Nations communities in southern Manitoba, including Minegoziibe Anishinabe.

Daniels was in Ottawa last week to attend the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly which was held Dec. 3-5 at the Rogers Centre in downtown Ottawa. This event brought Indigenous leaders together from across the country.

According to Nepinak, he has been inundated with questions about last week’s event and the status of Daniels. He hasn’t had much to share in that regard, since SCO has left him and other First Nations leaders with very little information. Leaving Nepinak and others frustrated.

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“We have not been able to confirm the status of any incident, as we have not received a report from the SCO on the status of the Grand Chief,” Nepinak said. “We were made aware that a small group of the executive council of SCO has appointed Chief Cornell McLean as the acting interim grand chief.

“I have reached out to Chief McLean for information and have received limited information,” Nepinak added.

Nepinak said he is very concerned about the lack of information that has been released so far, and that the leadership in his community is considering pulling back from their ties with SCO depending on what more is learned about the alleged incident, or how much is kept under wraps.

“The Minegoziibe Anishinabe has provided notice to SCO that we are again minimizing our participation in the organization until such time that we can be provided with adequate information about the conduct and status of the Grand Chief,” Nepinak said.

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“Once we have the opportunity to be informed and evaluate the situation, we will deliberate on our involvement in the organization on a going-forward basis.

“It is important to understand that the Grand Chief of any political organization is, first and foremost, expected to be accountable to the members of the organization.”

SCO has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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