Chief Roy Whitney doesn’t have to look far to see the outcome of his decades of service and vision.
The longest-serving chief of the Tsuut’ina Nation only has to look out of the large picture windows in his office to see just a bit of the end results of his years of enterprising leadership.
The Seven Chiefs Sportsplex and the Chief Jim Starlight Centre on 19 Chiila Boulevard are the first things you see. Sporting two indoor rinks with 1,150-square-foot change rooms, gymnasiums, a third-level running track, commercial kitchen and even a covered outdoor rink with heated change rooms, the building that can seat 5,000 spectators opened in May 2019 and was proving to be the community’s hub — bringing together band members for seasonal feasts and powwows as well as people from all across the province and country to the state-of-the-art facility for hockey tournaments and training.
Whitney — or Xakijii, as he’s called in the Tsuut’ina language — has led the nation from 1984 to 2001, from 2012 to 2016 and once again for his 11th term when he was elected in November 2019 — making him the leader behind much of the positive change that has sprung up on the 283-square-kilometre reserve that runs from the edges of Calgary west to Bragg Creek.
[Interesting Read]
