The roots of the controversy lie in the numerous 1854 treaties signed by Territorial Gov. Isaac Stevens, relegating tribes to small reservations in exchange for shifting massive tribal lands to white settler ownership. The key to that lopsided trade, as Stevens (and his remarkable aide George Gibbs) well understood, was non-negotiable, namely granting of off-reservation rights for Indians to fish for salmon in “all usual and accustomed places.”
Stevens remarked at the time, “this paper [the treaty] saves your fish,” an off-hand remark that achieved salience in the court decision 120 years later. Stevens operated under the widespread assumption of the “vanishing Indian,” which assumed that tribes were destined to fade away under forced assimilation by churches and schools. Remarkably, the tribes held on and achieved a glorious vindication of their fishing rights in the good judge’s sweeping ruling.
That Boldt Decision was remarkable for its strict honoring of the literal treaty language. That ruling noted that treaties are “the supreme law of the land,” pointedly not subject to state conservation laws. Even more stunning was Boldt’s ruling that tribes were entitled not just to a “fair share” of salmon fisheries (as initially hoped) but a daring and surprising 50 percent. That meant 50 percent of the salmon were reserved for 1 percent of the state population, a ruling that really for years put salmon politics on the boil. Led by former US Sen. Slade Gorton, some tried to get Congress to overrule Boldt, but failed. The other big gamble was faith in joint (white and Indian) management of the fisheries. Both changes were fought long and hard by affected sports and commercial fishing interests, but these dramatic gambles have proved a success. The Judge’s faith in tribal traditions of wise management of natural resources was rewarded.
This uplifting story has many heroes. Judge Boldt, a remarkably thorough student of tribes and salmon, ran an admirably fair trial and threw himself unreservedly into the issues. Among the allies of the decision were President Nixon (!), Sen. Magnuson, Billy Frank Jr., Hank Adams, former Rep. Lloyd Meeds (chair of Congress’s Indian affairs subcommittee), US Attorney Stan Pitkin (a Nixon appointee who filed the landmark suit in federal court), and the six Supreme Court Justices (Blackmun, Stevens, Burger, White, Marshall, Brennan) who upheld the Boldt Decision in 1979.
Among the stalwart Republicans who held the line were Governors Dan Evans and John Spellman and state fisheries director Bill Wilkerson. The unsung hero of this legal saga was Dr. Barbara Lane, a UW-trained anthropologist who compiled comprehensive and sound reports on tribes and salmon and educated the diligent judge.
Author Charles Wilkinson (1941-2023) has written 14 books, many on Indian rights and legal issues, and served four years as staff attorney for Native American Rights Fund before becoming a law professor at the University of Colorado. It is the year of Boldt, with another notable book, Lightning Boldt by John Hughes, examining the early life of the courageous, transformative, heroic George Boldt.