Tensions between the Canadian Forces and the Dehcho First Nation over an emergency response exercise in the Northwest Territories appeared to be defused Monday after the grand chief met with military and RCMP officials.

Grand Chief Herb Norwegian described his meeting with Brig.-Gen. Chris Whitecross of Joint Task Force North and senior RCMP officers as cordial but tense.

However, he said the military leaders have a better understanding how to consult with First Nations about large-scale exercises such as Operation Narwhal, which began Monday in communities around the Northwest Territories.

Norwegian had earlier said his First Nation would not welcome 40 military personnel in Fort Simpson, which is on Dehcho territory, arguing he had only learned the military exercise was coming to town last Thursday.

"We need to let people know ahead of time, and then there would have to be an attempt to physically sit down with whoever the head of the organization is and in detail explain what it is that they're going through," Norwegian said. "This is still the Dehcho territory and we still need to be treated as a government."

Whitecross was not available for comment late Monday. But the Canadian Forces maintained that it had consulted communities, including the Dehcho First Nation, when planning for Operation Narwhale began two years ago.

During the operation, which is slated to last until April 27, personnel will respond to a simulated terrorist attack, air disasters and pandemic in the Mackenzie Delta.

In one exercise, soldiers will secure the Imperial Oil field near Norman Wells, N.W.T., and an 870-kilometre pipeline linked to the Rainbow Pipeline system in Alberta, against a mock terrorist threat.

For the duration of the operation, 40 soldiers and Canadian Rangers are living and working at the airport just south of Fort Simpson.

Norwegian had said he believed the military presence was an attempt to intimidate his organization because of its opposition to the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

In a news release issued following the meeting, Norwegian said despite the cordial meeting, his First Nation still feels the "pressure of Canada, the psychological pressure of their presence on our territory.

"Canada needs to understand that we have outstanding issues such as our land claims and our land use plan," Norwegian said in the release.

"To have this pressure on as we head for negotiations next week means we will have to have protocols for such exercises worked out in advance on a government-to-government basis."

The release added that earlier reports, which quoted an Operation Narwhal spokesperson as saying the Dehcho were consulted in advance, were incorrect.