THE FISH WARS
The fight for Native fishing rights in Washington state, dubbed “The Fish Wars”, took place between the 60s and 70s as a result of increased restrictions and arrests on Native fishermen engaging in their traditional food practices. This is the story of the harassment, protests, and courtroom battle that led to the landmark Boldt Decision that guaranteed Native fishing rights in Washington.
Fishing rights: a brief history of a long past
Between the late 1940s and 1950s, the U.S. federal government passed a series of resolutions and acts which enabled them to terminate federal aid, services, and protections for hundreds of tribes and dissolve their reservations. In practice, this was a coordinated effort to undermine Native sovereignty and assimilation into Western American culture.
Alongside Termination, the BIA started a voluntary Relocation program which would move thousands of Natives off their reservations and into cities. As terminated tribes were cut off from federal resources, this program promised better jobs, housing, and educational opportunities in urban areas than what was available on reservations. These promises proved to be false when Natives arrived in cities, unable to find work due to scarcity and discrimination.
Fish hanging in smoking shed, Frank's Landing, Olympia, Washington, 1970. Taken by Dolores Varela Phillips. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections
Muckleshoot tribal member fishing in boat with drift net and spear, Puyallup and Muckleshoot tribal fishing co-op, Frank's Landing, Olympia, Washington, Fall 1970. Taken by Dolores Varela Phillips. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections
“So all of a sudden this boat was coming at me and Bridges like a bat out of hell… Those bastards rammed us at full speed and knocked us clean over. We had our hip boots on and it was harder’n hell to swim. I honestly thought I was going to drown.”
- Billy Frank Jr. describing harassment from game wardens. MESSAGES FROM FRANK’S LANDING
FISHING IN THE URBAN NATIVE ERA
Police at river edge watching native fisherman pulling in drift nets during the confrontation between Washington State law enforcement officers and Nisqually and Puyallup Indian tribes over fishing rights, Puyallup River, Tacoma, Washington, September 9, 1970. Taken by Dolores Varela Phillips. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections
Native fishermen fishing in urban areas were frequently harassed, arrested, and had their gear confiscated by law enforcement.
Restrictions on Native fishing were worsened by environmental impacts from hydroelectricity and unregulated commercial and sport fishing that led to lower yields, with the blame being shifted to Native fishermen despite taking 6% of yields in comparison to commercial fishing’s 80%.
THE FISH-INS AT FRANK'S LANDING
As arrests continued, Native activists sought solutions to protect their right to fish. A protest at the state capitol in Olympia to negotiate protections was met with flippancy from the governor. This led to the founding of the Survival of the American Indian in 1964 by Billy Frank Jr. (Nisqually), Janet McCloud, Don Matheson, and Al Bridges (Nisqually).
Fishermen's encampment under 11th Street bridge the morning of the confrontation between Washington State law enforcement officers and Nisqually and Puyallup Indian tribes over fishing rights, Puyallup River, Tacoma, Washington, September 9, 1970. Taken by Dolores Varela Phillips. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections
Al Bridges speaking on bullhorn during the confrontation between Washington State law enforcement officers and Nisqually and Puyallup Indian tribes over fishing rights, Puyallup River, Tacoma, Washington, September 9, 1970. Taken by Dolores Varela Phillips. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections
Taking a more direct approach inspired by the Greensboro Sit-Ins of the Black civil rights movement, SAIA organized a series of fish-ins at Frank’s Landing alongside the Nisqually river. Demonstrators would fish using traditional methods outlawed by the state such as net-fishing, and set-up an encampment base alongside the river.
Supporters being arrested and loaded into buses, bound for the Tacoma Jail.
Supporters being arrested and loaded into buses, bound for the Tacoma Jail, September 9th 1970. Taken by Dolores Varela Phillips. Courtesy of University of Washington Special Collections
For the next decade, Frank’s Landing would become a site of frequent government raiding. During raids, demonstrators and fishermen endured extreme surveillance, physical, and institutional violence. Billy Frank Jr. alone would be arrested over 50 times for defending his treaty right to fish.
SAIA hired attorney Jack Tanner of the Tacoma-chapter NAACP for legal assistance. Tanner would later build NAACP support in the fish-ins. Many well-known activists joined as well, including Marlon Brando, Buffy Saint-Marie, and comedian Dick Gregory.
Billy Frank Jr. and Willie Frank Sr. with fish, Frank's Landing, Olympia, Washington, 1970. Taken by Dolores Varela Phillips. Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
the boldt decision
Despite scrutiny in the media, police brutality, and counter protests by white fishermen against the SAIA’s fish-ins, the protests developed into an adept courtroom strategy in collaboration with the NAACP, ACLU, and NIYC.
United States District Court Judge George H. Boldt.
Courtesy Washington Secretary of State
In 1974, Judge George Boldt upheld the treaties in a landmark court case United States v. Washington, ruling that Native Americans were entitled to the opportunity to take up to 50 percent of the harvestable fish off-reservation and that they should have equal part in the management of the fishing industry through a tribal fisheries commission.
This decision was critical not only for Native rights in Washington, but the nation, as an exertion of treaty provisions long broken by the United States.
sources and acknowledgments
Thank you to all of our elders and community allies who fought to make these rights possible. Thank you to Dolores Varela Phillips, who photographed this important moment in Native civil rights in Washington state.
Boldt decision: United states v. State of washington. (n.d.). https://www.historylink.org/file/21084
Treaty history with the northwest tribes | washington department of fish & wildlife. (n.d.). https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/management/tribal/history
Chrisman, G. The fish-in protests at franks landing—Seattle civil rights and labor history project. (n.d.). https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/fish-ins.htm
Reyes, L. L. (2006). Bernie Whitebear : an urban Indian’s quest for justice. University of Arizona Press.
Stern, C. (2019, November 27). You’ve heard of sit-ins. But what about fish-ins? OZY. http://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/when-native-americans-got-arrested-for-their-right-to-washingtons-fish/220234
Wilkinson, C. F. (2000). Messages from Frank’s Landing : a story of salmon, treaties, and the Indian way. University of Washington Press.