Kris Statnyk is Dinjii Zhuh and a citizen of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. He is the son of Marie Statnyk (Bruce) and the grandson of Dr. Reverend Ellen Bruce (Kyikavichik), Robert Bruce Sr. and Agnes Mills (Moses) from the Vuntut Gwitchin community of Old Crow, Yukon.
As a practicing lawyer in the Yukon and BC, Kris works exclusively with Indigenous peoples as they seek to freely pursue their political, social, cultural and economic development and to uphold their relationships and responsibilities to their lands, waters and territories through litigation, negotiation and community governance processes.
Kris also currently serves on the board of directors of the Gwich’in Council International which represents approximately 9,000 Gwich’in in the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Alaska as a Permanent Participant in the Arctic Council.
Kris currently lives and works within the Gitxsan territories in northwest BC together with his wife Shawna and son Jackson who are members of the Gitxsan house of Sakuum Higookw within Gitxsan eagle clan.