The Native American Fish Wars Of The 1960s And 1970s Explained

When American settlers assumed control over the Pacific Northwest during the 19th century, they largely did so through treaties. However, Don Ivy, Chief of the Coquille Indian Tribe, underlines the fact that none of the treaties actually came out of a real negotiation. "It was essentially Indian people being compelled to sign this with a promise that no harm will come your way. Don't sign it and all bets are off." And because some Indigenous people, like the Lushootseed people, "organized themselves by town instead of by a tribe with a formal political leader, some communities were left out of the [treaty] negotiations entirely."

But as it soon turned out, the Americans who'd insisted on the importance of signing treaties cared little about upholding the treaties, and for over a century, Native rights were infringed upon. This oppression ended up culminating in the Fish Wars, where fishers in Washington protested for their Indigenous right to fish on their lands, as underlined by the treaties signed by the federal government.

The Fish Wars led to a change in the conversation about tribal sovereignty and treaty legality. And many of the activists that participated in the Fish Wars, like Ramona Bennett, went on to become prominent members of the fight for Indigenous rights in the 1960s and 1970s during the Red Power movement. This is the Native American Fish Wars of the 1960s and 1970s explained.

After Washington Territory was created in 1853, several treaties were signed with Native people, including the Treaty of Point Elliott, the Treaty of Medicine Creek, and the Point-No-Point Treaty. The Counter writes that with these treaties, Indigenous people were restricted to reservations and given paltry cash sums in exchange for millions of acres of land. However, these treaties also included the "right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians, in common with all citizens of the United States." This clause was reportedly essential and many tribes wouldn't have signed treaties without it.

Nevertheless, many still expressed concern over the treaty provisions, like Skokomish leader Hool-hol-tan. According to History Link, Hool-hol-tan specifically underlined the issue of food accessibility. "Our only food is berries, deer, and salmon. Where then shall we find these? I don't want to sign away my right to the land. Take half of it and let us keep the rest. I am afraid that I shall become destitute and perish for want of food."

These treaties were negotiated by Isaac Ingalls Stevens, the first governor of Washington Territory. And although he "personally assured [Indigenous people] of the validity of the documents," it took the United States up to five years to ratify the treaties. And even after being ratified, payments and benefits guaranteed to Native people in the treaties were often "delayed or forgotten."

After the Puget Sound War and the Yakima War both ended with an American victory, the land grab continued. Land that was meant to be within the boundaries of the reservations kept being appropriated and, according to OPB, eventually the Dawes Severalty Act "turned their land into a patchwork of small allotments, privately owned by both Indians and non-Indians." Meanwhile, according to "The State of Native America," edited by M. Annette Jaimes, Native people were arrested for fishing in the early 20th century, "even on their own federally-supervised lands."

Indian Country Today reports that in 1917, the United States Army occupied Nisqually reservation land and by 1920, the title of over 3,000 acres of Nisqually land was appropriated by the United States Army for the Camp Lewis base. History Link writes that although Pierce County had no authority to acquire Nisqually land through condemnation, Pierce County Superior Court Judge W. O. Chapman, who was also conveniently part of the condemnation proceedings, "ruled that legal precedents made condemnation of the reservation lands legal."

The Seattle Times reports that Washington also closed six rivers to salmon fishing in 1889, the first year of its statehood, and all six rivers were fishing grounds used by Indigenous people. "The state eventually banned net fishing in all rivers, except the Columbia, effectively outlawing the Indians' main way of catching fish."

Born on March 9, 1931, Billy Frank Jr. was a member of the Nisqually tribe. He was just 14 years old the first time he was arrested in 1945, but it wouldn't be his last arrest. Frank would end up being arrested over 50 times over the years for asserting his Indigenous right to fish. In 1952, Frank joined the Marine Corps for two years and resumed fishing after returning to his family's land. There, Frank continued to face attacks by the police for fishing, because the state of Washington "insisted that its authority to regulate fish and game was the controlling law," writes History Link.

Indian Country Today reports that Frank became involved in the fight for Indigenous fishing rights to be upheld and provided support to "many Indian fishing families who suffered injury and harassment on the path to taking their treaty to court." Frank's land became known as Frank's Landing, and it was "where the first Indian lance of protest activism was stuck in the ground in the early 1960s."

During the Fish Wars, Frank was repeatedly attacked by the state and arrested for fishing. The Seattle Times writes that on one occasion, a state boat rammed into Frank's canoe, a prized possession that had been carved by Frank's friend Johnny Bob. Frank fell into the water and almost drowned. Meanwhile, the state confiscated his canoe.

The state of Washington responded by sending police to arrest Native fishers "using tear gas, blackjacks, and excessive violence." Many people were reportedly hospitalized due to police attacks during the Fish Wars. Escalating the conflict "with a military-style campaign," state officials used tear gas and billy clubs and guns with impunity against the protestors, regardless if they were adults or children. The arrests and raids on fishing camps like Frank's Landing were described as "paramilitary-style" activities. 

In addition, "numerous white fishermen took their cue from such police actions and began invading individual Indian fishing camps and destroying them," according to "Pan-Tribal Activism in the Pacific Northwest" by Vera Parham. The Seattle Times reports that in 1971, Hank Adams, an Assiniboine-Sioux activist, was shot in the stomach while fishing. He survived, but the local police showed little interest in finding his would-be murderer and they dropped the case. Although the FBI did an investigation, Adams's "assailants were never caught."

The State of Native America writes that the idea policy of armed self-defense in the fishing rights movement was pushed by an elder Nisqually woman. The Survival of the American Indian Society (SAIA), which was also part of the Fish Wars, were also not pacifists and, according to The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project, "had frequently threatened to defend themselves with violence if necessary."

The biggest question in the lawsuit was whether or not the state of Washington was legally allowed to regulate the fishing practices of Native people who had signed treaties with the federal government. The Seattle Times reports that while both Native people and the state were using the treaty clause "The right of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the territory" to justify their actions, there was a difference in interpretation. The state considered "in common with all citizens" to mean that Native people were subject to the same amount of state control as non-Native people. Meanwhile, Native people argued that "usual and accustomed places" meant that their fishing wasn't to be restricted.

In 1974, Judge Boldt ruled that not only did "in common with" meant that Native people were entitled to "half the harvestable salmon running through their traditional waters," using an 1828 edition of the Webster's Dictionary, but he also made Native tribes "co-managers of the state's fisheries." Last Real Indians writes that this ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1979.

After giving his verdict, Judge Boldt ended up becoming the subject of abuse and was targeted by "state and local officials, the ICERR, local and national 'sporting' organizations, the commercial fishing industry, the John Birch Society, and the Ku Klux Klan," according to "The State of Native America."