Indigenous women in politics say it’s not a coincidence that several women have recently won First Nations elections for positions previously only held by men.

On Thursday, voters in the Cree Nation in northern Quebec elected Mandy Gull-Masty as grand chief, the first woman to hold the role.

Earlier in July, Kahnawake, near Montreal, and the Assembly of First Nations also election their first female leaders.

Lynne Groulx, the C.E.O. of the Native Women’s Association of Canada says many Indigenous communities are looking for change and hope women leaders will take a new approach.

Gull-Masty, who won 64 percent of the vote in a run-off election held Thursday, says she plans to travel the 300,000 square kilometres of the Cree Nation to meet with community members.

She says her focus is on protecting the Cree language, culture and land, as well as building an economy that will create opportunities for young people who leave to pursue higher education to return.