The unprecedented decision by the Haida clan to strip the chiefs of their title was taken during a public ceremony witnessed by more than 500 people.
The rationale was the chiefs misrepresented the band by alleging First Nations support for a project the Haida have publicly rejected.
“This is an absolutely huge decision and I think it is a wake-up call to the hereditary system of governance and leadership,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillips of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs told the Vancouver Sun.
