Kekinusuqs, Dr. Judith Sayers, is the elected Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation, located in Port Alberni, BC.  Judith has been the elected chief in her community for over 13 years and chief negotiator for over 15.  As the senior elected official of her First Nation, she has been focusing on capacity building, sustainable development and restoring and rehabilitating Hupacasath territory.  Judith was elected to the three member political executive of the First Nations Summit, the Summit Task Group, in June 2006.  The Task Group is authorized by the Summit to carry out specifically mandated tasks on issues related to treaty negotiations in British Columbia.

She has an extensive background of practicing law for 18 years in both Alberta and British Columbia, working in international forums, lobbying governments and other agencies for the promotion and protection of First Nations rights and title.  Judith has been the recipient of the Bora Laskin Fellowship on Human Rights, a Finalist in 2006 for the Buffet Award for Indigenous Leadership, and twice awarded the Woman of Distinction from the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Judith is currently the President of Upnit Power Corporation, a green energy project, Chair of Eagle Rock Materials Ltd, a developing construction aggregates company, and board member of the Tsu-ma-uss Transformation Society, which is a tourism project that is in its developmental stages. Judith is also the Co-Chair of the Island Corridor Foundation, a joint venture between Regional Districts and First Nations that own the Rail line on Vancouver Island.  Judith is also on the Board of Tourism BC and the Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund.

She is also the proud mother of two children, Alana and Cole, and focuses her energies on ensuring a sustainable world not only for her own children but all future generations of First Nations children, so that they may continue to exercise their rights and have a just settlement of aboriginal title.

www.hupacasath.ca