Northern aboriginals are expected to fire the first shot Wednesday in a fight against the federal government's plan to centralize decision-making over resource development.
The Tli (TLEE) Cho (CHOE) government, which oversees a patch of the central Northwest Territories, is asking the territory's Supreme Court for an injunction against a federal bill.
The bill would replace regulators created by various land-claim settlements with a single board headed by a federal appointee.
The Tli Cho, who are supported by the territory's other land-claim groups, say that violates hard-won treaties that now have the force of constitutional law.
The government has said the so-called "superboard" it's trying to create does conform to land-claim agreements.