Thanks to Ed M.
From Post Alley by David Brewster
Fifty years ago, federal Judge George Boldt issued his landmark decision on tribal fishing rights. An admirable new book, Treaty Justice, by law professor and tribal advocate Charles Wilkinson, has just been published by UW Press. There are two good reasons to read this lucid book. It is an even-handed and comprehensive primer on this vexed, core issue in the Northwest. And the entire salmon saga restores one’s faith in the legal system, just in case you are needing some good news to counter today’s problematic Supreme Court.
As the author states, the Boldt Decision of February 12, 1974 “vividly displays the brilliance and worth of the American system of justice and the moral and tangible benefits it can achieve at its heights.” Indeed the Court tried to end the raging Indian Wars of the times, established tribal sovereignty, and was a daring leap of faith in shared management of salmon fisheries.
It ranks up there in judicial boldness with the Supremes’ decisions about civil rights, school integration, old-growth protection, and voting rights. The lingering question is whether Judge Boldt, a crusty, conservative Montana Republican, bit off too much and escalated for years the war over salmon. It was reflective of an age of progressive judicial activism, now long gone. (continued)