David Walkem served as Chief of the Cooks Ferry Indian Band for 28 years. Since October 2018 he now serves as Councilor. The Cook’s Ferry Band is one of 15 Bands in the Nlaka’pamux Nation (formerly known as the Interior Salish Thompson Indians in BC).
In 2013 David, as the lead negotiator, successfully completed negotiations for eight bands in obtaining an Economic and Community Development Agreement with the Province of BC to share mineral tax revenues on a major existing mine, and negotiated a Participation Agreement with the mine to provide economic and community benefits for all bands. David now Chairs the Citxw Nlaka’pamux Assembly, a federal not for profit corporation that is responsible for implementing the agreements and providing direction to the Nlaka’pamux Legacy Trust (2013) established to manage the funds from these agreements.
David is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario with a Master of Business Administration (1984) and the University of BC with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry (1980). In 2001 he was the recipient of the ‘Forester of the Year’ award from the Association of BC Professional Foresters, and in 2007 he received an award from the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards Foundation for his achievements in the Environment and Forestry. David also volunteered for 17 years on the Board of Directors of the Native Education Centre in Vancouver, much of which he served as President.
