In Canada there have been protests against the building of a gas pipeline. From what I can tell, most protests started when the hereditary leaders of the Weet'suwet'en opposed it and called for allies across the country to protest. However the Federal government argues that they had obtained permission from the elected councils of the First Nations bands involved.

My question is, what is a hereditary chief? More fundamentally, how does a government decide to recognize the power of a member of another nation? Is my understanding of the situation correct?