Federal Governments

Salish tribes gather at Tulalip to set common policy

The (Everett) Herald:

This week, American Indian and Canadian First Nations leaders will hold talks in their own way: with stories, songs and bits of the rejuvenated Coast Salish languages.

The Tulalip Tribes are hosting the third annual Coast Salish Gathering, which brings together leaders of Coast Salish tribes, a region that stretches from north of Bella Coola, B.C., to as far south as Tillamook, Ore. Hundreds of leaders from the region have gathered in past years, and as many are expected to participate in this year’s gathering.

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Puget Sound Treaty Indian Tribes, Shellfish Growers Reach Pact

OLYMPIA (May 18, 2007) – Puget Sound treaty Indian tribes and commercial shellfish growers have finalized an agreement that will protect and enhance the resource while resolving legal issues from a federal court ruling that re-affirmed treaty-reserved tribal shellfish harvest rights. The pact resolves lingering legal issues from a 1994 federal court ruling that upheld the tribes’ treaty-reserved shellfish harvest rights. The agreement preserves the health of the shellfish industry, recognizes the importance to the tribes of their shellfish harvest rights and provides greater shellfish harvest opportunities for everyone in the state.

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All Habitat Is Critical

January 3, 2004

Habitat is the key to wild salmon recovery in western Washington.
That’s why the treaty tribes who have always called this region
home were surprised by the Bush Administration’s plan to reduce
by more than 80 percent the critical habitat needed to recover wild
salmon.

We know that harvest and hatcheries also are critical to recovering wild salmon stocks, of which three in western Washington have been listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species
Act. Tribes have stepped up to the challenge by reducing their harvests up to 80 percent over the past two decades. Together with our co-managers, the State of Washington, we are in the fifth year of a hatchery reform project that is helping to recover wild salmon while supporting sustainable fisheries.

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Governor Locke Chooses to Sign Bad News Bills Over Tribes’ Objection

OLYMPIA (June 24, 2003)– Governor Locke signed the highly controversial water bills quietly and without fanfare Friday. The bills, dubbed the “water grab and hoarding bills of 2003” by the tribal governments that co-own the water with the state and federal governments, send a clear message that the state has little regard for environmental health, says Billy Frank, Jr., chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

“These are bad news bills,” said Frank. “We’ve said so all along. They’re bad for the environment and they’re bad for the state/tribal relationship.”

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Tribes Hold The Senior Water Right

January 14, 2003

With the 2003 State Legislature now in session, water is again a key environmental issue being considered by the state lawmakers.

Another thing they must consider is that the tribes hold the senior water right in this state. The senior right is not held by the public utility districts. It’s not held by the cities, and it’s not held by corporations or the counties. It’s held by the tribal governments—along with the state and federal governments. These are the governments that actually own the water, on behalf of their respective citizens. That’s the law, and yet the state has consistently ignored the tribes in its legislative and management practices and policies.

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United Tribes Distribute Water Principles

OLYMPIA (Jan. 13, 2003) — Indian tribes today released a list of principles they say the state must comply with in setting water policy. The principles, which were distributed to the Governor’s Office, state legislators and state agencies, were accompanied by a letter from Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Chairman Billy Frank, Jr. which stated that tribes hold the senior water right in the state and that this fact, in addition to treaty law, requires the state to protect water with a priority toward sustaining fish and wildlife habitat.

“The senior right is not held by the public utility districts. It’s not held by the cities, and it’s not held by corporations or the counties. It’s held by the tribal governments, along with the state and federal governments. These are the governments that actually own the water, on behalf of their respective citizens. That’s the law, and yet the state has consistently ignored the tribes in its legislative and management practices and policies,” said Frank.

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