Thunderchild Chief Delbert Wapass – ‘show me the sooniyas’

Thunderchild First Nation is a Cree First Nations band in Turtleford, Saskatchewan, about 113 kilometers northwest of North Battleford. Population in 2016 was 1,868 with 630 living on the reserve. Thunderchild First Nation was set to receive $155 million from the cows and plows settlement in late 2024.

Band members were celebrating in June 2025 after winning a court case against chief and council over the band’s finances. The Band Members Alliance and Advocacy Association of Canada (BMAAAC) was a co-applicant in the court filing with 17 band members under the First Nation Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA) in May of 2024. The judge in the case ruled Chief Delbert Wapass (@DWapass) and his council at Thunderchild were in violation of the Act. Justice Julie Blackhawk issuing several court orders as part of her decision. The case was nicknamed ‘show me the sooniyas’- sooniyas being the word for money in Cree.

Thunderchild Chief Delbert Wapass launched an appeal, with band money naturally. The case came about after a decade of lack of financial documents.

Band members repeatedly requested copies of financial documents and expense reports from 2013 to 2023 but Wapass had and still has no intention to hand them over. Among the court orders issued by Blackhawk was that chief and council at Thunderchild provide an update to the Court and the Applicants every 90 days on their progress with respect to compliance with the schedule set out in her ruling. Blackhawk ordered chief and council to publish the band’s financial records on their website and publish a schedule of remuneration and expenses for several fiscal years.

Thus far there is limited evidence of financial records being produced and nothing is audited. In 2021 the Chief and council pulled down a combined $1,050,000, with the Chief pulling down a cool $170k. There is a great deal of grassroots opposition to Chief Delbert Wapass (‘WipeAss’). Its said he owns multiple homes. Allegations of corruption have riddled his extended tenure as Chief. Some say he has strong ties to native gangs.