“Fish War” documentary tells story of treaty fishing rights struggle and the threats to salmon that remain
The Fish War was settled on Feb. 12, 1974, with U.S. District Court Judge George Boldt’s ruling upholding the rights of Northwest treaty tribes to fish in their usual and accustomed areas.
But the war never really ended.
Earlier foes — commercial and sport fishing that overharvested the resource, and state fisheries enforcement officers who clubbed and arrested Native fishermen and women and seized their nets and boats — were replaced by newer problems: salmon habitat degradation and climate changes that have made it hard for fish populations to recover.
Were it not for Boldt’s decision, which made treaty tribes co-managers of Washington’s salmon population, there may not be any salmon left at all, according to the new documentary, “Fish War,” produced by North Forty and Northwest Treaty Tribes Media and released this year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision.
Commercial, sport and tribal fisheries are supported by hatcheries operated by treaty tribes, which released 43.6 million salmon and steelhead in 2023, according to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. All or some of these fish were produced in cooperation with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state regional enhancement groups, public utilities, or other sport or community groups.
Treaty tribes work to restore salmon habitat, monitor the health of the marine environment, document changes in climate and, if necessary, take the fight to protect salmon and habitat to court.
Salmon are culturally, spiritually and dietarily important to Pacific Northwest Native peoples, but non-Native people benefit from the work of treaty tribes, too. “I think we ought to be taking full advantage of protecting Indian treaty rights if we’re concerned about protecting fish habitat, wildlife habitat, etcetera,” former state Fish and Wildlife director Bill Wilkerson says in “Fish War”: “The treaty rights have been a plus for the state of Washington.”
The supreme law of the land
The United States acquired the land comprising what is now Washington state in 1854–56 through seven treaties. In each of those treaties, the Native signatories reserved the right to fish in their usual and accustomed areas. In signing treaties with leaders of the Native nations here, the U.S. was acknowledging tribal sovereignty, the documentary states.
The U.S. Constitution says treaties are “the supreme law of the land,” and in 1905 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the treaties protected the rights of Native fishermen and women to fish and hunt in their usual and accustomed areas. As the salmon canning industry and sport fishing grew. however, the state was pressured to regulate Indian fishing, despite lack of authority to do so. By the 1960s, the conflict grew violent and the U.S. sued the State of Washington; the ruling in that lawsuit is known as the Boldt Decision.
“Fish War” tells the story of the conflict, the court case and the evolution of the relationship between treaty tribes and the state as resource co-managers. It features archival footage of the violent treatment of Native fishermen and women by state fisheries enforcement agents, and interviews with individuals who participated in the protests, testified in the court hearings, and are working in the co-management era to protect salmon from pollution and climate changes.
The late Billy Frank Jr. was at the forefront of the fight for treaty fishing rights and, as chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, helped build a collaborative relationship between the treaty tribes and the state. “Our number one objective in this life must be to find common ground,” he says near the documentary’s end. “We share this land. We share these resources. We share a common future.”
Though that relationship has grown stronger over the years, more than a century of salmon habitat degradation remains to be corrected.
“Fish War” is a progress report of sorts, and the news isn’t cheery. Judge Boldt ruled that the tribes and the state were each entitled by treaty to 50% of the harvestable fish. Before the Boldt Decision, tribal fishers were catching 2% of the fish. According to “Fish War,” tribal fishers are catching less fish today than pre-Boldt.
“In 2011 we were probably fishing, I’d say, two or three months out of the year,” Willie Frank III, Billy Frank Jr.’s son, told Salish Current. “Now we’re down to about eight days. The timeframe has changed in just that short time period.”
Today, more than 14 species of salmon and steelhead in Washington state are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, according to the Governor’s Office on Salmon Recovery.
“The Fish War isn’t over,” Willie Frank III says in “Fish War,” but instead of fighting over fish, we’re fighting for the fish and to keep them here on our planet.” ,
Screenings of ‘Fish War’
“Fish War” is at the Pickford Film Center’s Doctober Festival Oct. 19, 21 and 29 with the short film, “West Shore.” The Oct. 19 screening will feature an in-person conversation with Willie Frank III, former chairman of the Nisqually Tribe; Althea Wilson, a Lummi filmmaker and Northwest Indian College educator; and Kari Neumeyer, communications director of Northwest Treaty Tribes Media, the media arm of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
“West Shore” is an 18-minute short produced by Children of the Setting Sun Productions and directed by Jordan Riber and Jon Carroll. This documentary tells the story of the 2023 Intertribal Canoe Journey, the West Shore Canoe Family and the integral role song plays in Coast Salish culture. Pickford Film Center.
“Fish War” will also be shown on Nov. 9 in Friday Harbor at a program hosted by Friends of the San Juans and featuring a panel discussion and Lummi Blackhawk Dancers commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision during Native American Heritage Month. San Juan Community Theater, 6:30 p.m. https://sanjuans.org/fish-war-film-screening/
More films of note
The documentary “As Long as the Rivers Run,” produced by Survival of American Indians Association, was filmed from 1968–70 at Frank’s Landing on the Nisqually River. It documents the struggle of Native Americans in the Northwest to exercise their treaty rights and maintain their way of life. It covers the civil disobedience that led to the landmark decision in U.S. v. Washington.
“Back to the River,” produced in 2011 by Salmon Defense, tells the story of the treaty tribes’ efforts to protect salmon for future generations — from the treaty rights struggles pre-Boldt to the era of co-management by treaty tribes and the state. It includes the voices and personal accounts of Native fishermen and women, tribal leaders and others active in the struggle to preserve treaty rights and protect salmon.
— By Richard Arlin Walker
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