Activist groups opposing resource projects in British Columbia are increasingly invoking First Nations hereditary authority to frame their campaigns as Indigenous-led, even where elected band councils have approved those developments to support economic self-sufficiency. This is fuelling conflict between hereditary and elected governance systems within First Nations, which activists are exploiting to stall or derail forestry, aquaculture, and other resource projects, warns Dallas Smith, a leading advocate of sustainable Indigenous resource development. “The activist community has really linked on to the fact that they have more credibility if they have hereditary indigenous leadership within their realm of what they’re trying to achieve,” Smith said during an interview on the Power Struggle Podcast. Smith is president of the Na̲nwak̲olas Council, an alliance of six First Nations in British Columbia that works collectively on rights, title, and resource governance. He described the activist approach as deliberate and increasingly sophisticated.