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DECEMBER 14, 2000

Clarifying a number of questions arising from the historic Boldt decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday issued a series of decisions limiting the fishing rights of several Washington tribes.

Named for U.S. District Judge George Boldt, the 1974 decision ruled that Washington tribes are entitled to 50 percent of the fish harvest in the state. The cases decided yesterday focus on two key components of that decision -- treaty rights and the definition of a tribe's "usual and accustomed" fishing grounds.

On the first issue, the court sought to clarify the fishing rights of the Confederated Chehalis Tribes, whose reservation was created by executive order, not by treaty. Extending a 1996 ruling which said the tribes were not entitled to off-reservation fishing rights, the court said their on-reservation catch should be taken from the state's share, not the other tribes' share.

"The Chehalis tribe was never party to a treaty; accordingly, the fish taken by the Chehalis cannot be attributed to the treaty tribes," said the court. The decision affirms a lower court ruling in favor of the Quinault Nation, who signed the Treaty of Olympia in 1855.

On the second issue, the court yesterday limited the location of the fishing grounds of the Lummi Nation and the Muckleshoot Tribe. As with the Chehalis case, other tribes challenged their rights.

The Lummi sought to include the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the mouth of Hood Canal, and Admiralty Inlet in their traditional fishing area. Ruling in favor of the three bands of S'Klallam and the Skokomish Tribe, the court said the Lummi are not entitled to fishing in the Strait or the Hood. However, the court said the tribe's fishing grounds include Admiralty Inlet, reversing a lower court ruling.

The Lummi also sought to clarify their fishing rights around Seattle, claiming rights to the southern suburbs in addition to the northern suburbs. Ruling in favor of the Muckleshoot Tribe, the court yesterday said the Lummi are only entitled to fish in the northern suburbs.

In this case, the issue centered around the meaning of the phrase "south from the Fraser River to the present environs of Seattle" used by Boldt. The court said Boldt meant the tribe's fishington grounds would stop at the city's northern boundary as it existed in 1974.

Although the Muckleshoot prevailed against the Lummi, the tribe lost its appeal against the Puyallup, Suquamish, and Swinomish tribes in seeking to extend their traditional fishing grounds. The court yesterday said the Muckleshoot were only entitled to fish in Elliott Bay.

The tribe sought to include areas of Puget Sound based on a Boldt's use of the phrase "secondarily in the saltwater of Puget Sound." But the court said that there was no evidence the Muckleshoot Tribe ever fished anywhere beyond Elliott Bay with regularity.

Therefore, the tribe's "usual" grounds don't include areas in Puget Sound, said the court.

Get the Chehalis Decision:
US v. QUINAULT INDIAN NATION (9th Cir. No 99-35104. December 2000)

Get the Lummi Decisions:
LOWER ELWHA BAND OF S'KLALLAMS v. LUMMI INDIAN TRIBE (9th Cir. No 98-35964. December 2000)
MUCKLESHOOT INDIAN TRIBE v. LUMMI INDIAN NATION (9th Cir. No 99-36224. December 2000)

Get the Muckleshoot Decision:
US v. PUYALLUP INDIAN TRIBE (9th Cir. No 99-35960. December 2000)

View a Clickable-Map of the Area:
NWIFC Member Tribes (Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission)

Relevant Links:
The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission - www.nwifc.wa.gov
The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation - www.cahe.wsu.edu/~chehalis
The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe - www.muckleshoot.nsn.us
The Suquamish Tribe - www.suquamish.nsn.us
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe - elwha.org
The Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe - www.jamestowntribe.org