Chief R. Donald Maracle
R. Donald Maracle has served as Chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte for 28 years and for 12 years as Councilor before that.
As Chief on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Maracle has successfully advocated for his community and directed its revitalization as an economically and culturally vibrant nation. During his tenure on council, Chief Maracle has overseen the filing and settling of land claims, regeneration of his nation’s land base, installation of new energy infrastructure, construction of a water treatment plant and installation and expansion of a water delivery system, the renewal of the Tyendinaga roads network, renewal and expansion of his nation’s housing stock, the completion of a new police building and a new administration building, and the restoration of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal of the Mohawks.
Chief Maracle’s advocacy goes beyond his own community, working with the Chiefs of Ontario, the Iroquois Caucus, and the AIAI Chief’s Council, and serving on the boards of numerous advocacy organizations, including on the Chiefs Committees on Health, Housing and Infrastructure, Water, and the Environment, and as Co-Chair of the Trilateral Committee on Long Term Care and the Indigenous Regional Governance Health Circle. Chief Maracle is an advocate for health and wellness programming, long term care, mental health, and education support for all the peoples living in Canada, as well for Aboriginal rights, Indigenous economic development, Indigenous languages revitalization, and fairness and equality for service delivery in Indigenous policing.
Chief Maracle has always been a dedicated, passionate, and respectful leader. He takes seriously his nation’s founding role in the establishment of the great Silver Covenant Chain of Friendship between the Crown and the Indigenous peoples living in Canada, affirmed by the Royal Proclamation of 1763. He is committed to the future of that relationship and to always strengthening and brightening the Chain since, as Haudenosaunee tradition tells us.
This relationship will be everlasting. It is for all present and future generations. It shall stand as long as the sun shines upon the earth; as long as the waters flow; and as long as the grass grows green. Our relationship shall be binding, as long as Mother Earth is in motion.