Here's some more things to think about regarding the Treaties with the Tribes:

1) The Treaties gave the Tribes absolutely nothing;

2) The fact that the Tribes have treaty reserved fishing right have nothing to do with the fact they're Indians;

3) Treaty reserved fishing rights will be the only thing that will save salmon on the Columbia River; and

4) If you're looking to overture or abrogate the Treaties, you can probably find an unlikely ally: The Tribes.

Let me explain.

Point #1. The Treaties took away almost everything the Tribes had. Land, water, resources, culture ties, etc. The only thing they retained was a little strip of land (the reservation) and the ability to fish in their usual and accustomed places. Not much of a bargin.

Point #2. The Tribes have treaty rights because they negotiated an agreement with the Federal government. Therefore, only those Tribes that negotiated this clause in their Treaty have those right. It's possible for someone to be 100%, full blooded Indian and still not have Treaty fishing rights. How? If they are not a member of a Tribe that has those rights, they don't have them as an individual, despite the fact they may be 100% Native American. Conversely, if the Federal government agreed to provide Treaty fishing rights to 40 year old white guys from Vancouver, Washington I would have them too. But they didn't, so I don't.

Point #3. All the environmental laws on the books haven't helped the salmon in the Columbia River. With the discussion of tearing out dams, it's getting very troubling for some members of Congress. If things get really difficult, Congress can always "remedy" the situation with a stroke of a pen. However, when the Tribes go to court to enforce their rights, there is nowhere to turn. The salmon must be restored. It's the law.

Sometimes the Tribes take some fish, sometimes they take a whole lot of fish. Sometimes they take so many it drives alot of us nuts. But in the end, the Treaties and the fish will be there long after the Snake River dams come down.

Point #4. Some Tribal members would like nothing more than to abrogate the Treaties. Why? They would get their land back. All of it. The purpose of the Treaties was to settle the State of Washington, and elsewhere. I'm not sure what would happen if the Tribes ended up owning the entire State. Face it, the purpose of those Treaties is not to protect the Tribes, they are there to protect the rest of us.

I will end this lengthy rambling by saying that I'm not a lawyer nor a Tribal member. Just a salmon/steelhead angler trying to understand the issues and make sense of a difficult situation.

MSB