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Indian Treaty Analysis And Off-Reservation Fishing Rights: A Case Study, Richard A. Finnigan

Washington Law Review

In United States v. Washington, Federal District Court Judge Boldt held that treaties negotiated in the 1850's by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens, on behalf of the federal government, reserved to the Indians of western Washington the right to fish off reservation for salmon and steelhead in their "usual and accustomed places." These treaties stated that the right is to be exercised "in common with" non-Indian fishermen. In a critical examination of precedent which clarified much of the prior uncertainty concerning Indian treaty analysis, Judge Boldt interpreted this treaty language to require that the Indians be given an opportunity to harvest …