When pipeline companies want to build on Indigenous lands, with whom do they consult?

The tensions unfolding over anatural gas pipeline project in northern B.C. have raised questions about who aresource company should consult among Indigenous leaders whenpursuing a major project: hereditary chiefs or elected band councils?

Hereditary chiefs are standing in opposition to the project, despite a court injunction. But severalWet'suwet'enelected band councils have signedagreementswith Coastal GasLink, a subsidiary of TransCanadaCorp., for apipelineto carry natural gas from northern B.C. to the coast, where a liquefied natural gas project is scheduled.

Here's a look at what we know about the situation.

Who is trying to stop the pipeline in Wet'suwet'en territory?

All the First Nations bands, except the Hagwilget Nation Village Council,signed agreements with Coastal GasLink. This includesthe Skin Tyee First Nation, Wet'suwet'en First Nation,Witset First Nation, and Nee Tahi Buhn Band.

However, hereditary leaders say those agreements don't apply to the traditional territories.

"All of the 13house chiefs of the five Wet'suwet'en clans have said 'no'to all oil and gas pipelines in our territories," says Carla Lewis, a spokesperson withthe Gitdimt'en clan,who has amaster's degree in Indigenous governance.

Lewis says those clans ratified their opposition to alloil and gas expansion within theirterritorythroughapotlatch three years agoafter weighing the cultural, environmental, and economic impacts.

The band council leadership has reached agreements with Coastal GasLink but the hereditary leadership is opposed to the project.

How does band leadership work?

A First Nations community has an election for chief and council based on the number of members they haveevery two years. Band council leadership is not atraditional form of government.Rather, they are creations of the Indian Act.

Whilepeople in the communityelectaband council,it isaccountable to the federal government.

Bands were introducedby the federal government in 1876,as part of a post-Confederation assimilation policy.

"The federal governmentthought the waycommunities were governing themselveswas backwards,"saysBob Joseph, the founder of Indigenous Corporate Training,which helps companies and organizations work better with First Nations.

"It was a direct imposition on already self-governing Indigenous communities," Joseph said.

How does hereditary leadership work?

Hereditary leadership differs from community to community, but Wet'suwet'en leadership is basedon a clan andhouse-based system.AWet'suwet'enhereditary chiefinherits his or her rolethrough theirmatrilineal line through the potlatch system,which is their governing structure.

In the case of theWet'suwet'en, if a hereditary chief is not taking a leadership role seriously or not living up to expectations, that person can be stripped of their hereditary role, and another person may be appointed by other clan chiefs in a potlatch.

The differentlevels of decision making and authority have created tensions between the hereditary chiefs, provincial and federal governments, and band councils.

How does a community decide who is in charge?

Every community is different,but Josephsays, for the most part, band councils sort out responsibilitiesnormally taken care of by the federal government, like health care and education.

Wet'suwet'enhereditary ChiefNa'Moks,one of the leaders protesting the pipeline, describes his authority astaking care of the land andrights and title to it.

"Elected chiefs and councils only have jurisdiction within the boundaries of the reserve that they're elected to serve and they are supporting the pipeline," Chief Na'Mokssaid.

"We have 22,000 square kilometres that we are accountable for," he added.

How does that authority hold up in court?

Lawyers point to the 1997 Supreme Court of CanadaDelgamuukwdecisionto describe how authority inWet'suwet'enterritories is circumscribed.

That decision found that Indigenous land rights and title were not extinguished at the time of colonization. The case was framed around traditional, hereditary leadership, according to lawyers.

"Band councils are inherently a creation of the federal government and the Indian Act, so in many cases those don't line up with pre-existing Indigenous legal orders,"said KateGunn, a lawyer at First People's Law in Vancouver.

She says theDelgamuukwdecision found that theWet'suwet'ennation is organized and governed through the hereditary system.

"Whether the Indian Act bands have signed on to the agreements or not the support of the nation and the process to get that support hasn't been fulfilled," she said.

If you're a company like TransCanada, with whom do you consult?

Bob Joseph sayswhenTransCanada which announced plans to change its name to TC Energy on Wednesday started the consultation process sixyears ago, the federal government at the time may have directed companies totalk to the chief and council for input or approval.

Today though, Josephsays Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trying to push throughrapid changes, such as dismantling the Indian Act where band councils derive their power. Trudeau has also talked at length about treatingIndigenous groups as nation-to- nationrather than as underneath the federal government.

Joseph saysthis may mean companies like TransCanadashould consult an entire community, rather than specific leadership. In turn, he says communities may have to hold referendums for the entire community before making decisions that not everyone favours.

On Tuesday,Trudeau told a group of Indigenous leaders in Ottawa that "a great deal of work remains to be done to fix the relationship between the federal government and First Nations".