FORT SMITH - A protest sit-in at Salt River First Nation (SRFN) offices has ended, but political divisions remain in the Fort Smith-based band.

Frieda Martselos - elected chief in an April 30 by-election but fired by council on May 7 - launched the sit-in along with supporters on the day of her dismissal.

It ended on May 15, following a membership meeting at the band office.

That meeting, which Martselos said was attended by 78 voting members, passed several motions.

"One of them was to reaffirm me as their duly elected chief," she said.

The meeting also voted to terminate the existing council and replace it with an interim council consisting of Frederick Beaulieu, Eileen Beaver, Mary Benwell, Peter Daniels and George Cummings.

Martselos said the eight-day sit-in, during which she slept overnight at the band office, was "absolutely" a success.

She now hopes there will not be two competing groups in the band.

"The membership has given their direction," she said, adding the council which ousted her should now listen to the wishes of members.

"What I got out of the meeting is members want to be heard," Martselos said.

The council which dismissed Martselos didn't attend the May 15 meeting.

"It's not a valid meeting, so we didn't go," said Mike Beaver, who was named acting chief on May 11.

"There's no way these guys can take us out of there," he said, noting a count by a council supporter found only 55 people at the May 15 meeting.

The council that removed Martselos consists of Mike Beaver, Chris Bird, Sonny MacDonald and Toni Heron.

Beaver said that on Wednesday some members of that council went to the band office to check it out and found no one there. However, he said all of a sudden a dozen or so women arrived, saying it was their band office.

Beaver believes the struggle by Martselos and her supporters will soon be over.

"They'll get tired of it," he predicted. "They'll find the truth of who's the real council."

However, Martselos has filed an application with the Federal Court of Canada in Edmonton seeking to overturn the band council resolution removing her.

"I don't think it will go anywhere," Beaver said. "Let them go to court and have their fun."

The acting chief said he is happy to see the end of the sit-in and he hopes his council and band employees will be back in the building sometime this week.

"Hopefully, they'll leave us alone when we get in there," he said.

In its resolution removing Martselos, council listed 21 articles of impeachment.

Along with accusing her of an autocratic manner, the resolution stated, among other things, that she terminated the band's financial officer and auditors, changed locks, removed or authorized the removal of financial and other records from the band office, hired two employees and demoted one employee - all without the authorization of council.

Martselos said she was elected chief and the sit-in occurred because members feel left out of the political process in the band, particularly when it comes to deciding how money should be spent.

She noted a bylaw passed after the multi-million-dollar treaty land entitlement settlement of 2002 stated all expenditures of money are to be approved by the membership.

"That's never been done," she said.

Martselos - the wife of Fort Smith Mayor Peter Martselos - said she wants an opportunity to lead the SRFN, as she was elected to do, and make it the best band in Canada. "I have the ability to do that."

However, she said to do that she will need the co-operation of her opponents.

"They have to let me do my job," she said. "I'm not here to play games."

Councillor Toni Heron said two weeks ago the resolution is valid, and that was confirmed by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).

George Cleary, INAC's director of Indian and Inuit services in the NWT, said the department doesn't have a direct role in the governance dispute, because SRFN has its own custom election process.

"Essentially, they're self-governing," he said.