Lorraine Weir came to oral history from Irish studies early in her career and Indigenous Studies more recently via a bridge from the Law and Society field and papers on the concepts of "time immemorial" and "oral tradition" in the Tsilhqot'in case. She worked as an expert witness in touchstone Canadian censorship court cases and has published on censorship, James Joyce and semiotics, and such Canadian writers as Margaret Atwood and Nicole Brossard. A fifth-generation descendant of Irish Famine survivors, she grew up in Montréal and holds a Ph.D. in Irish literature from Ollscoil na hÉireann (National University of Ireland). Weir is an Emeritus Professor of Indigenous Studies, Department of English Language and Literatures, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Roger William is the Plaintiff in the Tsilhqot'in Rights and Title case. Born at Naghataneqed in Xeni, he is from the Bulyan family and is the great-great-grandson of Warrior Qaq'ez, older brother of Warrior Chief Lhats'assin.

Roger served his community, Xeni Gwet'in, for five terms as Chief and three terms as Councillor. He did rodeo bull riding for fifteen years, mountain-raced for thirty-two years, was Overall Bull Riding Champion in 1993, and won the King of the Hill Mountain Race Championship in 2012 and 2013. In recognition of his twenty-five-year contribution to the Title case, Chief William was awarded an honorary LL.D. by the University of Northern British Columbia in 2015.