Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver – Grand Chief Edward John (Akile Ch’oh), Dan Smith (Haliakalas) and Chief Doug White III (Kwalasultan) have been elected to the First Nations Summit Task Group (political executive) by leaders representing First Nations currently engaged in treaty negotiations in BC.
The First Nations Summit political executive speaks on behalf of those First Nations involved in the treaty negotiation process in British Columbia.
Chief John, a hereditary Grand Chief of the Tl’azt’en Nation, will be serving his ninth term as a member of the Summit’s political executive. He has represented and advocated for First Nations/Indigenous interests on the provincial, national and international stage for more than 30 years. Chief John was also recently appointed by the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council as an Indigenous Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) for North America for the term 2011-2013.