Jerry Daniels stands in front of the Hudson's Bay Company story in downtown Winnipeg in this undated image. Photo: APTN file
The grand chief of a Manitoba tribal organization is off work indefinitely, according to a news release from the Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO).
The advocacy group for Anishinaabe and Dakota First Nations said Thursday Jerry Daniels is “on leave for an undetermined length of time for health reasons.”
It was the first comment since Daniels, 42, was allegedly involved in a drunken punch-up last week while attending a national meeting of First Nations chiefs in Ottawa.
Sources told APTN News that Daniels required hospital care.
The Ottawa Police Service confirmed its officers were called to a “disturbance” in the early morning hours of Dec. 6 outside a downtown bar.
The police said Thursday they were still investigating.
SCO has not acknowledged the incident nor confirmed Daniels’ injuries.
Daniels has not commented.
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SCO grand chief sent to hospital after early morning altercation in Ottawa
In a curt release emailed to APTN, SCO said Chief Cornell McLean of Lake Manitoba First Nation would be acting as its grand chief in the meantime.
“On the operational side, it is business as usual for SCO and the many programs and services that support First Nation citizens,” the release said.
McLean also stepped in as acting grand chief in 2022 for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs – a provincial First Nations lobby group – when then-grand chief Arlen Dumas was accused of inappropriate behavior by two women. Dumas was never charged with a crime but chiefs voted to remove him from his position.
McLean is also chief of Lake Manitoba First Nation, a two-hour drive north of Winnipeg.
Daniels was elected in June to his third term at the helm of SCO.
References to him on the SCO website had been removed following the altercation in Ottawa but were restored as of Thursday.
While he is the face of the organization, the SCO constitution says it is the chiefs of the 34-member Nations that make the decisions.
The chiefs also have the power to remove the grand chief through a vote.
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Historic Hudson’s Bay building in downtown Winnipeg transferred to Southern Chiefs’ Organization
Meanwhile, SCO garnered national headlines in 2022 when it accepted the deed to Winnipeg’s iconic downtown Hudson’s Bay store in an act of “reconciliation” by the retailer.
The group has unveiled ambitious plans to transform the six-storey landmark into a mix of residential, commercial and retail use funded by various governments. The Trudeau Liberals have committed nearly $100 million towards the redevelopment called Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn — “it is visible” in Anishinaabemowin.
The project was recognized as the “Best World-Changing Idea, North America,” in 2023 by the annual World Changing Ideas Awards presented by Fast Company magazine.
