It proceeded according to a formal research agreement in which the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Government of British Columbia, and the scientific institutions involved negotiated the terms under which research would be conducted, the questions that research would be allowed to address, the handling of materials, and the final disposition of the remains.

This kind of formal governance framework — in which Indigenous First Nations exercise specific authority over archaeological research in their territories rather than merely providing input to researchers who retain final decision-making power — was not universal in Canadian archaeology in 1999.

The legal and political context in British Columbia and the Yukon, including the broader frameworks of modern treaty negotiations and the recognition of First Nations governance rights, had created conditions in which the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations could insist on — and receive — meaningful control over what happened to Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi.

The agreement that governed the research specified not just procedural requirements but substantive constraints: which scientific analyses were permitted, which materials could be sampled, who had access to the findings, and how the results would be communicated.