Indigenous leaders in Canada have reached a “milestone” agreement with government officials in a land dispute that has sparked widespread protests and railway blockades throughout the country... Leaders had met in British Columbia to address longstanding frustrations among the Wet’suwet’en over a previous refusal by the federal and provincial governments to recognize both Wet’suwet’en’s governance structure, which uses hereditary chiefs instead of elected councils, and their 22,000 sq km of traditional territory. The Wet’suwet’en have never signed away the rights to their land or entered into any treaty with the Canadian government... [T]he draft resolution marks a significant shift in the long-simmering dispute between the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and government officials.

... Tensions came to a head in recent months, after the company Coastal GasLink won a court injunction to continue construction of its multibillion dollar natural gas pipeline, a third of which would cross through Wet’suwet’en traditional territory.