‘Unceded Territory’: A Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief’s perspective

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, September 25, 2025

Editor,

A Wet'suwet’en Chief is not necessarily born into the role but begins preparing for their role at a young age.  

The Wet'suwet’en Nation is made up of 13 houses, each house has a house Chief and secondary leaders called wing chiefs. Chiefs are chosen based on their merit by the father clans, differing from European or British hereditary systems.

A chief is responsible for the traditional hereditary territories' land and resources for the community and the welfare and health of the people. The hereditary chiefs and leaders have jurisdiction and authority over their unceded territories.

Our governance system was considered inferior only because our ways of life, our beliefs, and our governance structures were different than Canadian governance systems.

The reserve Chief and Band Council were created as a result of the Indian Act of 1876, which was established and written by the European government, not by any Aboriginal person.

It was formed as a means to impose a foreign governance system and leadership structure on the Aboriginal Hereditary Chiefs.   

The Chiefs and Band Councils are just the administrative bodies for Aboriginal peoples who are living in reserve communities.

They are put there by the Canadian government. They have no jurisdiction over the Aboriginal traditional territories. 

I’m just setting the facts straight for all the Aboriginal Hereditary Chiefs in Canada.   

These elected Chiefs and Councils have no authorization on traditional hereditary territories. They are there to administer the welfare and health of the people living in reserve communities in Canada for the Canadian government system.

The Wet'suwet’en unceded territories refer to the hereditary traditional lands of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, in British Columbia, Canada, which we have never sold, surrendered, or relinquished to the Crown or the government of Canada.

The term "unceded" emphasizes the ongoing assertion of Wet'suwet’en sovereignty and land rights, a core aspect of the Nation's resistance against all industry projects that traverse our ancestors' territories that the Wet'suwet’en Nation and the people have historically occupied and managed since time immemorial and have never legally transferred title or rights to the Crown or to the Government of Canada.

By referring to it as “unceded" the Wetsu’wet’en Nation is asserting its ongoing sovereignty and inherent right to self-determination and jurisdiction over its traditional hereditary lands, which are protected under the Canadian Constitution and international declarations, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Kwat’bid’jah (Kneekap H. Nikal)

Kwat’bid’jah is an Elder of the Wet'suwet’en Nation, a wing chief of the Owl House of the Lik’samis’yu (Killer Whale & Fireweed) Clan, age 72.