Ottawa (Oct 22/04) - It's been more than six weeks since Dehcho First Nations launched its initial court case against the federal government, and the reaction from Ottawa remains muted.

On Monday, federal negotiator Robin Aitken said the issue is largely in the hands of the lawyers. They are trying to determine whether there is enough common ground for the two sides to hold any discussions, but the litigation "changes the game quite a bit," Aitken said.

"There's still some work going on," he said. "I guess we're hopeful that people can get together soon."

On Sept. 2, Dehcho First Nations (DFN) filed a legal statement of claim to halt a joint review panel, which was formed to evaluate the impacts of a proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline. Two weeks later, DFN went back to court to prevent any pipeline hearings from being held.

Aitken had warned Deh Cho leaders that legal action against the government would result in the suspension of self-government negotiations. However, that has not yet happened.

Chris Reid, legal counsel for DFN, said he thinks Ottawa's politicians and bureaucrats haven't yet figured out what they're going to do.

"The federal government is notorious for getting extremely cautious when there's litigation going on," said Reid.

The Deh Cho has contingency plans if negotiations collapse, but Reid declined to discuss what those plans entail.

The DFN and the federal government have yet to resolve terms for oil and gas exploration in the Deh Cho, which is one of many issues that remains on the negotiating table.

In the meantime, DFN Grand Chief Herb Norwegian is in Ottawa this week to meet with NDP leader Jack Layton. Norwegian has also been trying to meet with Mike Yeager, CEO of Imperial Oil, a pipeline proponent, according to Reid.

"I think he (Norwegian) hopes that Imperial will support negotiations as a solution," Reid said.

The DFN has a leadership meeting scheduled in Fort Simpson for Oct. 26-28.