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The protests over the Coastal GasLink pipeline through Wet’suwet’en lands in British Columbia have brought greater attention, prominence and pressure to nearly everyone involved.

Previously little known Indigenous leaders have suddenly become major players in national politics, not least the hereditary chiefs who met this week with federal and provincial ministers.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or During Wet’suwet’en crisis, AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde has been notably quiet Back to video

An obvious crisis for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the affair has also sparked the strange resurgence of lame duck Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, who has postured against Trudeau from between his two main aspiring successors, Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole.

All this has pushed diverse grassroots activists onto Canada’s news pages, from urban environmentalists to Mohawk Warriors.

One notably quiet voice, however, has been Perry Bellegarde and the Assembly of First Nations of which he is National Chief.