New NIC will be formally established at 2026 National Indigenous Spiritual Gathering
The National Indigenous Elders Council (NIEC) has initiated a process to put a new National Indigenous Council (NIC) in place. On November 14, 2025, the NIEC sent a letter to all Indigenous communities of faith to explain the process, aiming to engage the membership of the Indigenous church in discerning who will form a new 15-member National Indigenous Council. Terms of Reference for the new Council were circulated with the letter.
The Terms of Reference were developed based on a week-long meeting of the NIEC in Saskatoon in mid-September with members of the Indigenous church’s Mission Support Working Group and Real Property and Capital Plan Working Group. Together, the NIEC and committee members acted as the visioning/dreaming committee, which the 2024 National Indigenous Spiritual Gathering had asked be established to chart a way forward to convening a new NIC to govern the Indigenous church.
The largest Circles, Keewatin and Ontario-Quebec, each have been invited to nominate four people (one of which is a youth member) to serve on the NIC. Plains Circle and Pacific Mountain Indigenous Ministries have each been invited to nominate three people (one of which is a youth member).
Sandy-Saulteaux Spiritual Centre also has been asked to nominate a student to serve on the NIC.
The Elders have asked members of the Urban Circle to make nominations through the four geographical circles of Sandy-Saulteaux. Importantly, the NIEC agreed that all 15 members of the new NIC will have equal voice. The NIEC will appoint two Elders to attend NIC meetings in an advisory capacity.
The NIEC has asked to receive nominations by a deadline of May 1, 2026. This will facilitate preparations for a National Indigenous Spiritual Gathering—to be called on dates yet to be determined in summer 2026—where the new NIC will be formally established.