Jerry Daniels in an interview with APTN's Face to Face program. Photo: APTN file
The Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) in Manitoba announced Thursday that its grand chief, Jerry Daniels, was being welcomed back to work.
“On behalf of the staff at the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, we are excited and deeply grateful to welcome back Grand Chief Jerry Daniels after his recent health leave,” the SCO post reads.
“Grand Chief Daniels’ commitment to advancing the goals of our SCO Nations, Chiefs, and SCO staff remains unwavering, as we all continue to work toward securing a brighter future for our communities.”
The post does not mention a summit of chiefs that was to be held this month to discuss Daniels’ role with SCO.
Jerry Daniels has been off since early December incident in Ottawa
Daniels has been off work since Dec. 3 when he was reportedly injured in a brawl outside an Ottawa bar during the Assembly of First Nations annual December gathering. No charges were laid in relation to the incident.
He has not been seen or spoken publicly since, but issued an apology in mid-December in a letter to SCO he later posted on his Facebook page.
On Dec. 23, spokesperson Karen Mitchell indicated SCO would comply with a demand from several member chiefs to hold a summit to discuss the situation.
Eight member chiefs of SCO, which is an advocacy organization for 33 Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations representing more than 88,000 members in southern Manitoba, weren’t happy when it said Daniels would be returning to work a few short weeks after an incident in Ottawa prior to the start of the Assembly of First Nations December assembly.
They threatened to leave SCO if a special summit was not held, according to another letter obtained by APTN News.
“Should no SCO Summit on this critical leadership (be) held in January 2025 and Jerry Daniels reinstated to the SCO office of Grand Chief, the SERDC Chiefs will be withdrawing membership from SCO,” they wrote, “and SERDC Chiefs withdrawal from SCO will request a full valuation of any monetary or assets to be withdrawn from the SCO be transferred to SERDC within a three-month period.”
It’s not clear if they’ve been made aware of Daniels return.
APTN reached out to SCO to ask about the chiefs’ gathering but was told “we don’t have any further information to share at this time.”
