Paga 4 Portland Observar July 2.1181
Treaty rights protect steelhead, salmon
A b ill cu rrently in Congress,
S874, the •‘ Steelhead Protection
A c t," would remove Indian treaty
rights, cause the Am erican tax
payers to pay millions of dollars to
buy treaty-secured Indian property
right to give it to sports fishermen,
and would allow the destruction o f
the environment. Among the spon
sors o f the bill are Representatives
Gorton and Bonker of Washington
State and Representative Les Au
Coin o f Oregon.
The stated purpose o f S874 is to
make Steelhead a game fish and
thus remove it from the commercial
fishery o f the Indian tribes,
prohibiting Indians from fishing for
Steelhead on or o ff the reservations.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Com m ission, made up o f
representatives o f the Treaty Indian
tribes, charges that the intent o f the
bill is to abridge fundamental con
stitutional rights of native people.
TRADITION
For thousands o f years the Indian
people have used Steelhead along
w ith the various types o f salmon
that passed their fishing grounds.
According to Nathan Jim, represen
tative o f the Confederated Tribes of
the Warm Springs Reservation, the
w inter run was used prim a rily for
food during the period before the
spring chinook arrived. Steelhead
o il was also used to preserve
salmon. The salmon was pounded
powder fine and mixed with
Steelhead oil, then stored in balls in
Steelhead skin. These balls o f
pemican could be stored fo r long
periods and were used for trade with
Indians from the Great Plains and
the Coast.
"The Steelhead is a brother to the
salmon," he explained, “ To the In
dian they are one fish .” Steelhead
are used, along with the salmon, for
ceremonial purposes - at naming
ceremonies, weddings, and in feasts
in respect to the food that provides
for them.
TREATY RIGHTS
The Indians were declared
“ human beings” and the owners of
the land by the early Spanish
Church. The U. S. Northwest O r
dinance o f I787 guaranteed the
liberty and property rights o f the
Indians - the reason being that if the
Indians owned the land it could be
obtained from them. Early Supreme
Court decisions determined that In
dian tribes were sovereign nations -
distinct, independent communities -
that retained their identities as in
dependent nations within the United
States, and that they have the right
to self-government.
Treaties "m ade in peace and
frie n d sh ip ” transferred the land
owned by the Indians to the
American government - considered
a necessity by the government in or
der to protect Am erican citizens
who were moving onto land owned
by the Indians.
The Indians retained their right to
hunt and fish on the land remaining
in their c o n tro l - the reservation
lands. They also retained the right
to fish " in com m on” w ith other
citizens at their usual and ac
customed fishing places. The US
government has the responsibility to
protect those rights.
During the 1960s and 1970s a long
series o f scriminishes among Indian
and non-Indian fisherm an and
between Indian fishermen and the
States o f Oregon and Washington
took place. This resulted in several
BONELESS
HAM
federal court decisions outling the
Indian’s fishing rights.
The Payallup decision found that
the treaty rights o f the tribes cannot
be subordinated to the State laws,
but that the State can make neces
sary and reasonable regulations for
conservation of the fish. These reg
ulations can be applied only after all
other alternatives have been used.
6-9 POUND
WHOLE HA M
The P uyallup Tribe v. D epart
ment o f Game (1973) interpreted the
treaty rights to include taking Steel
head for commercial purposes.
The B oldt Decision interpreted
the words " in common w ith " to
mean that the treaty tribes have a
right to one-half o f the fish.
In 1979 the US Supreme C ourt
confirmed that the right meant one-
h a lf o f all the fish o f each run
destined to pass the usual and ac
customed fishing places.
Phase II o f U nited States v.
Washington, states that the tribes
have a right to one-half o f the hat
chery fish since they are replacement
fish.
It also contained the far-reaching
decision that the right to take fish
means the right to have fish, so gives
the treaty tribes the right o f freedom
from degredation o f the habitat.
This means that treaty tribes can
prevent any construction, dams,
forestry, road building, pesticide
use or any other acitivity that would
destroy the breeding grounds o f the
fish.
FIVE YEAR PLAN
In 1977 the tribes agreed to a Five
Year Plan where they w ould de-
emphasize steelhead since it is im
portant to recreation fishermen, and
in return would be guaranteed an
increased harvest o f salmon.
Since the agreement, the catch of
Steelhead has declined from 32,000
in 1977 to 5,600 in 1080. However,
the salmon catch has declined every
year, dropping from 121,000
Chinook in 1976 to 23,(XX) in 1980.
Even so, the tribes gave non-Indian
fishermen 60 percent o f the Spring
salmon catch.
A lthough the Indians were
guaranteed that the fish runs would
increase, twenty year records show
just the opposite. A t Bonneville
Dam the steelhead run has
decreased by 2.3 percent; fa ll
chinook by 8 percent; spring
chinook by 48.6 percent; summer
chinook by 52.3 percent; coho by
64.7 percent, and sockeye by 14.6
percent.
At the fish Snake River Dam, Ice
H arbor, the statistics are even
worse. Fall chinook has decreased
84.6 percent; spring chinook 75.2
percent; summer chinook 84.5 per
cent; coho 96 percent, and sockeye
96.3 percent.
The government has not provided
the hatcheries promised to increase
the salmon runs, has over em
phasized steelhead hatcheries, and
has shipped upriver chinook and
coho eggs to other parts o f the US
and to other countries.
W hile salmon runs are being
depleted by the dams, destruction of
the habitat, and ocean harvest, the
steelhead is surviving and should be
used to make up the d e ficit in the
Indians allowable catch. The
steelhead is a hardy fish that can
better survive the torturous passage
over the Columbia and Snake River
dams and futhermore, aren't sub
ject to ocean fishing.
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K
Native Americans protest introduction of S874 which attempts to
remove treaty fishing rights.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
IMPLICATIONS
FOR NON INDIANS
S874 would take from the treaty
tribes their property rights. The 5th
Amendment to the US Constitution
protects citizens against con-
fis tica tio n o f property w ithout
compensation. Therefore the b ill
would force the taxpayers to spend
billions to take the property o f In
dian tribes, only to give it to sports
fishermen for recreation purposes.
This also has serious constitutional
implications since private property
can only be seized fo r public use.
while this bill would seize property
for private interests - sport fisher
men.
The bill is seen by Indians as just
one o f a long series of efforts by the
State of Washington and it officials
to abrogate their treaty rights. The
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and
the U.S. Supreme Court have de
cided the manner in which Wash
ington resisted enforcement o f
treaty rights. The bill is an attempt
to remove those rights.
Because steelhead travel with
salmon, giving the right to regulate
steelhead to the states would lead to
an attem pt to regulate salmon
fishing contrary to the treaty rights.
I f the Indians lose the right to
take fish, they also will lose the right
to have fish to take. They will loose
the right to protect the habitat.
The Pyallup Phase II Rights - the
right to protect the habitat - is a
prime concern to all citizens. The
right o f Indians to protect the fish is
the only right to protect the habitat
that exists.
Hear jazz
" Y o u r Zoo and A ll That Jazz"
summer concert series at M etro’ s
Washington Park Zoo continues.
The th ird concert w ill be held on
Wednesday, July 8 and will feature
the Simon and Bard G roup w ith
Paul Wertico and Larry Grey. Bring
your blanket folding chair and pic
nic dinner (or purchase food and
beverages at the concert) and relax
for an evening o f classical and
straight ahead jazz.
Concerts are free with regular zoo
admission. Parking problems? Take
the special Tri-Met shuttle bus from
the Sylvan/Westgate business area
parking lot right to the zoo for 25 «
per person each way. " Y o u r Zoo
and A ll That Jazz" concerts are
presented as a community service by
Meier & Frank Company. For more
information call 226-ROAR. In the
event o f rain, concerts w ill be held
the following Thursday nights, same
time.
639 7728
620 5199
CASCADE
TREE SERVICE
Topping. Trimming. Removals
Hedge A Shurb work
Free Estimates
I f this right can be removed, the
Corps o f Engineers can b u ild the
400 small dams it projects - dam
ming every small trib u ta ry in the
Northwest w ithout any effective
political control. The states w ill be
free
to
authorize
forestry,
agriculture, road b u ild in g , dams
and nuclear plants that w ill destroy
the environment and the fish.
The image has been created that
the Indians are the chief opponents
o f the sports fishermen, when ac
tu a lly , the Indians are the only
group with the power to protect the
fish o f all citizens.
E
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39
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From the Front Door
By Tom Boothe
From The F ro n t D o o r, I see th o se w h o fo llo w along th e co u rse o f;
Cleanliness, Caring, Courtesy and Completeness. Even as in Nature the same
courses are followed.
We m ight equate W inter w ith an act of Cleanliness; Spring an act of Caring;
Summer an act of Courtesy; Autum an act of Completeness.
But, then I see those who do not follow this course. They are those who are
not clean and they practice Dirtiness; there are those w ho do not care, and
they practice carelessness; there are those w ho are not courteous, they prac
tice rudeness and arrogance and are merciless; and there are those w ho do
not complete what they start, and they practice incompleteness.
These individuals w ill always Criticize, Complain, and find "B lam e F actor"
excuses; but most will change given enough tim e and encouragement.
I find that there is a great advantage in follow ing the course of Cleanliness,
Caring, Courtesy and Completness. Even, as in Nature this is the course of
Power, P ro d u ctio n and P erform ance, the p o sitio n of g iv in g . Those w h o
follow this course are in charge and hold great power over those w ho are less
clean, and those w ho do not care as much, and those who are not as cour
te o u s , and th o se w h o do n o t co m p le te m u ch o f w h a t th e y s ta rt; th e ir
position is one of consuming. It is better to give, than to consume, or be con
sumed.
W hen and if you feel oppressed and victimized, it may be that you are on the
w rong course. The way to change courses in the Right direction, is to prac
tice and dem onstrate m ore Cleanliness, m ore Caring, m ore C ourtesy and
more Completeness.
Exodus Clean Team Meeting each Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.
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