Assembly of First Nations (National Indian Brotherhood before 1982) leadership elections are held every three years to elect the national chief of theAssembly of First Nations. Each chief of aFirst Nation inCanada is eligible to cast a vote. Currently there are 634 eligible voters.

AFN rules state that a candidate needs 60% of the votes to win the election. If multiple candidates are on the ballot, the candidate with the fewest votes on each ballot is dropped until one candidate has reached the required percentage of votes. Additionally, any candidate who receives less than 15 per cent of the vote on a ballot is automatically dropped.

If only two candidates remain, however, the candidate with fewer votes is not dropped from the ballot automatically, but rather the race continues to another ballot until the leading candidate reaches 60 per cent or the trailing candidate voluntarily concedes.

Winner:Walter Dieter

Winner:George Manuel

Winner:George Manuel

Winner:George Manuel

Held inWhitehorse,Yukon on September 16, 1976.

Winner:Noel Starblanket (acclaimed)

Winner:Noel Starblanket

Winner:Delbert Riley

Held inPenticton,British Columbia on April 21, 1982.

For this election the two candidates with the fewest votes on the first ballot were dropped. This applied to Linklater and Powderface. Riley then announced he would withdraw.

Held inVancouver,British Columbia on July 30, 1985.

Held inEdmonton,Alberta.

Winner:Georges Erasmus

Held inWinnipeg,Manitoba on June 11, 1991.

Held inSaskatoon,Saskatchewan on July 6, 1994.

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Held inVancouver,British Columbia on July 30, 1997.

Held inOttawa,Ontario on July 12, 2000.

Held inEdmonton,Alberta on July 16, 2003.

Held inVancouver,British Columbia on July 12, 2006.

The 2009 convention was held inCalgary,Alberta on July 22.^[1]

At the close of nominations on June 16, the declared candidates were AFN's British Columbia regional chiefShawn Atleo,Roseau River First Nation chief Terry Nelson,Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chiefPerry Bellegarde, British Columbia land claims negotiator Bill Wilson and formerUnion of Ontario Indians chief John Beaucage.^[2]

Beginning with the second ballot, the convention went into an unprecedented deadlock, with six successive ballots in which the final two candidates effectively tied at roughly 50 per cent of the vote. Under AFN rules, a candidate requires 60 per cent of the vote to win unless their opponent voluntarily concedes the race.^[3] Bellegarde conceded after the eighth ballot, on which Atleo had surged ahead to a 58 per cent finish.^[1]

Nelson and Wilson were automatically dropped after the first ballot, as both failed to garner 15 per cent of the vote.^[4] Both candidates endorsed Bellegarde on the second ballot.^[5] Beaucage, as the last-place finisher among the three remaining candidates, voluntarily dropped out shortly after the ballot results were announced, also endorsing Bellegarde.^[5]

The 2012 convention was held inToronto,Ontario on July 18, 2012

At the close of nominations on June 12, the declared candidates were Shawn Atleo, Diane Kelly, Bill Erasmus, Terrance Nelson, Pamela Palmater, Ellen Gabriel, Joan Jack and George Stanley.

The 2014 leadership election took place on December 10.^[6] The candidates werePerry Bellegarde, the chief of theFederation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the runner-up to Atleo in 2009;^[7] Ghislain Picard, the AFN's regional chief for Quebec and Labrador and the organization's interim chief since Atleo's resignation;^[8] and Leon Jourdain, the former grand chief of theTreaty 3 area in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.^[9]

The 2018 leadership election took place on July 25, 2018, at the Annual General Assembly inVancouver,British Columbia.^[10] Loretta Pete Lambert, of the Little Pine Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, was the chief electoral officer. The candidates were the incumbent,Perry Bellegarde, from theLittle Black Bear First Nation; policy analyst Russell Diabo, a member of theMohawk Nation at Kahnawake;^[11] Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Sheila North, a member of theBunibonibee Cree Nation; economist and former President of theCouncil of the Haida Nation Miles Richardson; and Katherine Whitecloud, former Manitoba regional chief for the AFN, and member of Wipazoka Wakpa Dakota Nation.^[12][13]

RoseAnne Archibald secured victory on July 8, 2021, after her rival, Reginald Bellerose, conceded. The election had stretched to a second day and went to a fifth round of voting after neither Archibald nor Bellerose received the necessary 60% of votes to win. That remained the case when theAssembly of First Nations announced the fifth-ballot results, but Bellerose announced he was withdrawing from the race before a sixth round of voting could begin.^[14]

• Presidents of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
• Metis National Council

• First Nations history in Canada
• Assembly of First Nations chiefs
• Political party leadership elections in Canada
• Ethnic bodies and representatives elections

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