Alex Nitsiza grew up on the land near Whatì, where he learned firsthand from Elders how to care for the land and water and learned leadership from his father, who was the chief.

“I’m strong in that way, to carry on what they left behind,” he said. Through his role on the Wek'èezhìi Land and Water Board, this means ensuring environmental protections are in place and that mining companies are applying for the right permits and licences and following the rules. 

His work with the WLWB is guided by how in the past, people looked after each other, the land, the water, and the animals.

“That’s really stuck with me,” he said. “That’s how it was. People looked after each other and nobody damaged anything.”

He doesn’t want to see a repeat of the Giant Mine clean-up, an multi-billion remediation that will span decades, and sees his work on the WLWB as a way to help protect the environment.

“That’s why they have this board in place,” he said. “They don’t want to see all the damage that was done in the past [repeated].”

One of his favourite parts of serving on the board is that he gets to see a lot of different people at public hearings – old friends and new acquaintances – and travel to different communities.

Over the course of his career, Alex has worked in Yellowknife for a decade in the mining recorder office and the Department of Finance before getting a position with the federal government based in his hometown of Whatì. Afterward, he was president of a successful family business in Whatì for over 20 years.

He has also been elected to many diversified community and regional positions. Currently, he serves on the municipal council of Whati, Tłı̨chǫ Community Service Agency. Board, and Trustee of Tlicho Capital Transfers Trust.