Editing Monarchy of Canada (section)

====Hereditary chiefs====
{{Main|Hereditary chiefs in Canada}}
{{See also|History of monarchy in Canada#Pre-colonial}}
{{Multiple image
| align       = right
| total_width = 260
| image_style = border:1;
| perrow      = 2/2
| image1      = Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row.jpg
| image2      = John Simon - Portraits of Four Indian Kings of Canada, Etow Oh Koam, King of the River Nation - B2001.2.1507 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg
| image3      = 345Chief Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow by John Verelst, 1710. Archives of Canada..jpg
| image4      = Tejonihokarawa.jpg
| footer      = Portraits of the [[Four Mohawk Kings]], painted in 1710, during their visit with [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]]
}}

The hereditary chiefs are leaders within [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] who represent different houses or clans and whose chieftaincies are passed down intergenerationally; most First Nations have a hereditary system.<ref name=Todd>{{Citation |url=https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-powers-of-hereditary-chiefs-test-many-first-nations |last=Todd |first=Douglas |title=Powers of hereditary chiefs test many First Nations |date=26 January 2023 |newspaper=Vancouver Sun |access-date=10 March 2023}}</ref> The positions are rooted in traditional models of [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous]] governance that predate the [[colonization of Canada]]<ref name=Joseph>{{Citation |url=https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/hereditary-chief-definition-and-5-faqs| last1=Joseph| first1=Bob |title=Hereditary Chief definition and 5 FAQs |date=1 March 2016 |publisher=Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=Abedi>{{Cite news |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4833830/band-councils-hereditary-chiefs-indigenous-governance | last1=Abedi| first1=Maham |title=Band councils, hereditary chiefs — here's what to know about Indigenous governance |date=10 January 2019 |publisher=Global News |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref> and are organized in a fashion similar to the [[Western world|occidental]] idea of monarchy.{{Refn|<ref name=Todd/><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Ferguson |first=Will |author-link=Will Ferguson |title=The Lost Kingdom |magazine=Maclean's |publisher=Rogers Media |location=Toronto |date=27 October 2003 |url=http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038&source=srch |issn=0024-9262 |access-date=27 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807100344/http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20031027_68038_68038&source=srch |archive-date=7 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/2001/october/Sa21577.htm |last=Kehoe |first=Alice Beck |title=First Nations History |publisher=The World & I Online |date=October 2001 |access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/monarchy-canada#introduction |last=Makarenko |first=Jay |title=The Monarchy in Canada |publisher=Maple Leaf Web |date=1 June 2007 |access-date=10 March 2023 |archive-date=19 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419161314/http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/monarchy-canada#introduction |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Guichon>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nHebDwAAQBAJ |editor-last=Jackson |editor-first=D. Michael |title=Royal Progress: Canada's Monarchy in the Age of Disruption |last=Jakson |first=D. Michael |chapter=Introduction: The Crown in a Time of Transition |date=8 February 2020 |publisher=Dundurn |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4597-4575-9 |access-date=1 May 2023}}</ref>}} Indeed, early European explorers often considered territories belonging to different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms—such as along the north shore of the [[St. Lawrence River]], between the Trinity River and the [[L'Isle-aux-Coudres, Quebec|Isle-aux-Coudres]], and the neighbouring "kingdom of Canada", which stretched west to the [[Island of Montreal]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bourinot |first=J.G. |title=The Story of Canada |publisher=Read Books |date=2009 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiyViOSkLcwC |isbn=978-1-4446-3974-2 |ref=CITEREF_Bourinot_2009}}</ref>—and the leaders of these communities were referred to as kings,<ref name="Coates 2006 13"/> particularly those chosen through heredity.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bousfield|Toffoli|2002|p=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/4Chiefs.html |last=Odrowaz-Sypniewska |first=Margaret |title=The Four Indian Kings |publisher=The Bear Clan |access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref>

Today, the hereditary chiefs are not sovereign; according to the [[Supreme Court of Canada]], the Crown holds sovereignty over the whole of Canada, including reservation and traditional lands.{{Refn|<ref name=SCC1>{{Cite court |litigants=Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests) |vol=3 |reporter=Haida Nation |pinpoint=73 |court=Supreme Court of Canada |date=2004 |postscript=511}}</ref><ref name=SCC2>{{Cite court |litigants=Taku River Tlingit First Nation v British Columbia (Project Assessment Director) |vol=3 |reporter=Taku River |pinpoint=74 |court=Supreme Court of Canada |date=2004 |postscript=550}}</ref><ref name=SCC3>{{Cite court |litigants=Mikasew Cree First Nation v Canada (Minister of Canadian Heritage) |vol=3 |pinpoint=69 |court=Supreme Court of Canada |date=2005 |postscript=388}}</ref>}} However, by some interpretations of case law from the same court, the chiefs have jurisdiction over [[List of traditional territories of the indigenous peoples of North America|traditional territories]] that fall outside of [[Band government|band]]-controlled [[Indian reserve|reservation land]],<ref>{{Citation |url=https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/02/14/Wetsuweten-Crisis-Whose-Rule-Law |last=Hyslop |first=Katie |title=Wet'suwet'en Crisis: Whose Rule of Law? |date=14 February 2020 |publisher=The Tyee |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.chonfm.com/news/chon-fm-northern-news/wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs-it-is-complicated |title=Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs - elected Band Council - it is complicated |date=20 February 2020 |publisher=CHON-FM |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref> beyond the elected band councils established by the ''[[Indian Act]]''.<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indian-act| last1=Henderson| first1=William B. |title=Indian Act |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Elected vs. hereditary chiefs: What's the difference in Indigenous communities? |url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/elected-vs-hereditary-chiefs-what-s-the-difference-in-indigenous-communities-1.4247466 |date=9 January 2019 |publisher=CTV News |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref> Although recognized by, and accountable to, the federal Crown-in-Council (the [[Government of Canada]]), band chiefs do not hold the cultural authority of hereditary chiefs, who often serve as knowledge-keepers, responsible for the upholding of a First Nation's [[Traditional knowledge|traditional customs, legal systems, and cultural practices]].{{Refn|<ref name=Joseph/><ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chief |last=Robinson |first=Amanda |title=Chief |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=6 November 2018 |publisher=Historica Canada |access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/951203045| last1=Neel| first1=David| last2=Harper| first2=Elijah |title=Our Chiefs and Elders: Words and Photographs of Native Leaders |page=78 |publisher=UBC Press |date=1992 |isbn=978-0-7748-5656-0 |location=Vancouver |oclc=951203045}}</ref>}} When serving as Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, [[Judith Guichon]] postulated that the role of hereditary chiefs mirrored that of Canada's constitutional monarch, being the representative of "sober second thought and wisdom, not the next political cycle; but, rather, enduring truths and the evolution of our nation through generations."<ref name=Guichon/> For these reasons, the Crown maintains formal relations with Canada's hereditary chiefs, including on matters relating to treaty rights and obligations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/what-we-know-about-the-deal-governments-agreed-to-with-wetsuweten-hereditary-chiefs |first=Ryan |last=Tumilty |publisher=National Post |publication-date=2 March 2020 |title=What we know about the deal governments agreed to with Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs |access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref>