The Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) will have a familiar face leading it into the next three years after Peter Johnston was acclaimed as its grand chief earlier this week.

After nominations closed for the position on Monday, the council noted on its Facebook page that only one form had been submitted.

Speaking to the Star Wednesday, Johnston said he was happy to learn he’ll continue to be the face of the organization.

“I’m excited and relieved at the same time for that result,” he said, likening the council to a “conduit” between different levels of government to advocate for First Nation interests.

Those include hosting events like the Yukon Forum, which brings together First Nations across the territory and the Yukon government.

He’s also proud to have held the door open to First Nations that haven’t yet reached final agreements to take part in dialogues like these.

To date, 11 out of 14 Yukon First Nations have inked an agreement among the feds, YG and themselves.

“For me, it’s about bringing people and First Nations governments together,” Johnston said.

The group has done a good job in acting as a “watchdog” for other levels of government in the country, he added.

Inviting those that do not have agreements yet, like the Liard First Nation, White River First Nation and the Ross River Dena Council to take part in discussions around health, education and justice issues has been vital, as their lack of membership was “kind of the elephant in the room” in the past.

This “community first” mindset is one Johnston hopes to carry forward into his next three-year term, which comes complete with a number of short- and long-term goals.

By year two, he hopes to see the CYFN get out of the “rental reality” it’s been facing in years past by having a permanent house to call its own.

Come 2021, he believes, if the council can be housed in a downtown Whitehorse site, it would be “a model for what respectful Indigenous workplaces look like.”

More short-term goals include continued focus on the Yukon Native Language Centre.

In a move that was years in the making, it was announced in early 2018 that YG was transferring the centre’s control to the CYFN.

That effectively handed off the keys to the building that put language in its rightful place, Johnston said then.

“Without language, we have no identity,” he added.

“We’ve struggled with the unity issue for a number of years,” and not having external governments dictate or control meaningful centres like that was a link to revitalization.

Johnston will now serve a familiar three-year term; he comes to the role with years of experience since being elected to it in June 2016.

A member of the Teslin Tlingit Council, he’s spent a decade in the TTC’s government.

He is the son of former chief Sam Johnston, who helped convince the feds to negotiate modern day treaties back in 1973.

Sam was also the first Indigenous Speaker of a legislature in Canada, a role he was appointed to in the Yukon in 1985.