Jerald Sibbeston

Forty-Five Years in the Northwest Territories

I was born in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, and raised in Fort Simpson — a small Dene and Métis community where the Liard River meets the Mackenzie, in the heart of the Dehcho region. I spent thirty years in Fort Simpson and fifteen in Yellowknife before relocating to Edmonton, Alberta, in 2023. Nearly every formative experience of my life happened in the NWT. My family is still there. My connections are deep. The North is not my backstory — it is my story.

Giving Back to Fort Simpson

What drives me most is a desire to give back to the community that raised me. Fort Simpson has extraordinary people — resilient, resourceful, deeply connected to the land. What it lacks is opportunity in the digital economy. I want to change that by passing my skills on to young people in the North. My specific goal is to mentor youth in Fort Simpson to the point where they can pass a Cisco CCNA examination — a globally recognized networking certification that opens doors to careers in technology infrastructure anywhere in the world. This is not charity. This is investment in sovereign northern capacity.

Métis Identity and Sovereign Technology

I am Métis, a member of Fort Simpson Métis Local 52. My father, Nick Sibbeston, was the first Indigenous lawyer in NWT history and served as Premier and later as a Canadian Senator. My mother Karen and my father remain pillars of the Fort Simpson community. Growing up in a family that fought for Indigenous self-determination through law and politics shaped my belief that sovereignty must extend to the digital realm. Data sovereignty is the new frontier of Indigenous self-governance, and I am building the infrastructure to make it real through Yamoria.