The chiefs passed a resolution for a committee of vice-chiefs to investigate pipeline implications, then report back with a written report of options and recommendations. The document was drafted during a recent Dene leadership meeting in Rae and proposes that industry and government fund the research. There were no dollar figures attached to the plan.

NWT Dene chiefs have been bombarded by pipeline proposals from two factions: the Aboriginal Pipeline Group and The Arctic Resources Corporation (ARC).

"The leaders and the communities are being presented with conflicting information and being forced to choose sides thus creating division," the document read.

The APG wants one-third ownership of a proposed line that would carry natural gas southward following the Mackenzie Valley. The group is teamed up with several energy companies.

ARC is a consortium that wants to build a pipeline from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, then move under the Beaufort Sea to the Mackenzie Delta, and then south following the Mackenzie Valley.

"We're supportive of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. Different options have been floating around though," said NWT Minister of Resources Jim Antoine. But Antoine noted he wants to hear what Roland Priddle has to say first.

Priddle was appointed by the federal government to negotiate pipeline issues with the APG.

"I am like everyone else. I don't know what he is going to say," said Antoine.

The Deh Cho chiefs abstained from voting on the pipeline issue because they have yet to settle their land claim.

"We are still not saying yes or no," said K'atlodeeche First Nations Chief Roy Fabian. The Hay River chief proposed that there are positive sections from both the ARC and APG proposals and a joint plan could be introduced.

But Fabian wants to finish the Deh Cho process before committing. "No matter what the deal is, we're still not ready," said Fabian.