Treaty Justice: The Northwest Tribes, the Boldt Decision, and the Recognition of Fishing Rights

Summary

In 1974, Judge George Boldt issued a ruling that affirmed the fishing rights and tribal sovereignty of Native nations in Washington State. The Boldt Decision transformed Indigenous law and resource management across the United States and beyond. The case also brought about far-reaching societal changes, reinforcing tribal sovereignty and remedying decades of injustice.

Eminent legal historian and tribal advocate Charles Wilkinson tells the story of the Boldt Decision against the backdrop of salmon's central place in the cultures and economies of the Pacific Northwest. In the 1960s, Native people reasserted their fishing rights as delineated in nineteenth-century treaties. In response, state officials worked with non-Indian commercial and sport fishing interests to forcefully oppose Native actions. These "fish wars" spurred twenty tribes and the United States government to file suit in federal court. Boldt pointedly waited until Lincoln's birthday to hand down a decision recognizing the tribes' right to half of the state's fish. The case's aftermath led from the Supreme Court's affirmation of Boldt's opinion to collaborative management of the harvest of salmon.

Treaty Justice weaves personalities and local detail into the definitive account of one of the twentieth century's most important civil rights cases.