Chiefs reject rights deal

SMITHERS — Elected chiefs of a First Nation that’s split over a natural gas pipeline through their territory said Friday they will not sign a deal on rights and title, a day after the hereditary chiefs backed the agreement.

The elected chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nations say they don’t support the proposed memorandum of understanding on rights and title reached with the federal and British Columbia governments.

Gary Naziel, a Wet’suwet’en hereditary subchief, said most of the “grassroots chiefs” are opposed.

“Because the way business is being done is not our Wet’suwet’en way and it was done behind closed doors and nothing’s out in the open.”

It’s not about the pipeline but about the proper way of making decisions, he said in an interview on Friday.

“We’re trying to put a stop to it. Before we move forward, we need to fix things in a feast hall. The way decisions are being made — it’s so erratic now,” Naziel said.

“Our system is falling apart before our own eyes.”

The hereditary chiefs’ decision to sign the memorandum was announced Thursday in a joint statement they issued with the federal and provincial governments.

A spokesman for the hereditary chiefs could not be reached for comment.

Five elected Wet’suwet’en councils have signed agreements with Coastal Gaslink, the company that is building the 670-kilometre natural gas pipeline through northern B.C. to Kitimat on the coast.

The Wet’suwet’en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils.