The new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says change is happening, and colonial policies will be kicked to the curb.
RoseAnne Archibald of Ontario was named the new national chief Thursday night after Reginald Bellerose of Saskatchewan conceded before the sixth round of voting.
Archibald, who previously served as regional chief for Ontario, has been involved in First Nations politics for 31 years, and is the first woman to serve as national chief.
She says the recent discoveries of hundred of unmarked graves at former residential school sites has served as a wake-up call that settler Canadians have benefited from colonial practices and Indigenous people have been the target of genocide.