Norma Kassi

Norma Kassi
MLA for Old Crow
In office
1985–1992
Preceded byKathie Nukon
Succeeded byJohnny Abel
Personal details
Born (1954-04-10) April 10, 1954 (age 70)
Aklavik, Northwest Territories
Political partyYukon New Democratic Party
Occupationenvironmentalist

Norma Kassi (born April 10, 1954) is a native Gwich'in from Yukon Territory, Canada,[1] and a former member of the Yukon Legislative Assembly and former chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.[2] She was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002,[3] together with Sarah James and Jonathon Solomon. They received the prize for their struggles for protection of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) from plans of oil exploration and drilling. Oil and gas exploration would disturb the life cycle of the Porcupine caribou, which has been the foundation for the Gwich'in culture for 20,000 years.[3] In 2010 she was elected as Chief of the Vuntut Gwitchin.

  1. ^ Canada. Parliament (1989). Guide Parlementaire Canadien. Gale Canada. ISSN 0315-6168. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Yukon Votes 2006: Vuntut Gwitchin. cbc.ca.
  3. ^ a b Goldman Environmental Prize: Norma Kassi Archived 2007-12-04 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved on November 29, 2007)