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Landmark Boldt fishing rights decision turns 30
Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Thirty years ago this week, a federal judge in Washington handed down a decision affirming the treaty rights of Washington tribes.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge George H. Boldt declared that the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854 reserved half of the state's entire catch for Indian fishermen. Eventually upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, the decision led to widespread changes for tribal members, who were used to harasment, violence and jail-time for exercising their rights.

One man at the center of the historic Boldt ruling is Billy Frank Jr., a member of the Nisqually Tribe. He was born at Frank's Landing along the lower Nisqually River, where the Indian fishing rights movement took off in the 1960s. He was arrested 50 times before a U.S. attorney who witnessed the harasment filed a lawsuit against the state.

Frank now serves as chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. He is a passionate advocate for resource protection and salmon recovery, both of which he says the state still ignores.

Frank will be honored as an American Indian Visionary by the newspaper Indian Country Today on February 26 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Get the Story:
Ruling reshaped fishing, tribal rights (The Olympian 2/9)

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