Tribes are steadfast about their treaty shellfish harvest rights. If we weren't, our livelihoods and cultures would disappear. In Mystery Bay, off Marrowstone Island, several tribes are working hard to…
SKAGIT COUNTY (Feb. 8, 2008) – Many North Sound tribes traditionally relied on elk meat for sustenance. But these days there are fewer hunting opportunities because of diminishing quality habitat and declining elk populations.
Without sufficient harvest opportunities to feed their members, tribes turn to meat salvage. The proximity of the Upper Skagit Tribe’s reservation to Highway 20 puts the tribe in a prime location to retrieve animals that have been struck by vehicles. Each year, the tribe recovers three to five elk that have been killed on the road or illegally hunted.
In September, members of the Upper Skagit Tribe recovered a seven-point elk that was struck by a vehicle along Highway 20. The animal was towed from the bank of the Skagit River and shared with the Swinomish Tribe.
Bill Taylor and Billy Frank had a oped piece in the Seattle PI this morning on the shellfish settlement: Puget Sound shellfish growers and 17 Indian tribes have reached a…
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.