Nisga'a leaders argue that they remain Canadians, with the same rights and subject to the same criminal law as others.

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But the Liberals oppose the model of self-government won by the Nisga'a in the first modern-day treaty, signed in 1998.

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Others are less keen to dance: some Nisga'a tried (but failed) to block the treaty in court, calling it a sell-out.

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To deny the Nisga'a the fruit of years of patient negotiation would send a dangerous message to all first-nations people, says one leader.

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Aboriginal and treaty rights are already entrenched in the constitution, says Mr Hogg, and the new treaty merely defines those rights, which the Nisga'a had before Europeans ever arrived.

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But the Nisga'a deal took 24 years to negotiate.

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