#LANDBACK and Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs

My introduction to the concept of #LANDBACK began when I learned about the Wet’suwet’en peoples in British Columbia, and their struggle to stop the construction of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline through their lands.
(see: LANDBACK )

Who has the authority to make decisions about that land is a little confusing. The hereditary chiefs are said to have that authority, because they never gave up the title to their lands, and have/are resisting the pipeline construction. There is also elected a band council that seems to be similar to mayors of cities.

TORONTO — Protests across the country in support of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have prompted questions surrounding the difference between these chiefs and elected band councils — and the answer is complicated.

Essentially, the hereditary chiefs oversee the management of traditional lands and their authority predates the imposed colonial law, which formed the elected band council.

While the band council is in support of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, the hereditary chiefs are not.

“(The band council has) done their due diligence and they want to be part of this economic initiative, create jobs for their people, be part of the economy, and they balanced the environment and the economy,” National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations told CTV’s Power Play earlier this week.

“In the ancestral territory lands of the Wet’suwet’en peoples, it’s the hereditary chiefs and their clans and their big houses that have the jurisdiction,” Bellegarde added. “That’s the piece that’s missing, so when Coastal GasLink and governments come in, they didn’t bring the Wet’suwet’en nation and the proper people in place to deal with their ancestral lands.”

Anti-pipeline protests in support of the hereditary chiefs have halted train routes, ferry ports and busy intersections across the country since late last week.

Wet’suwet’en: What’s the difference between the elected band council and hereditary chiefs? by Ben Cousins, CTVNews,ca, Feb 13, 2020