Fishtick, The flaw in your reasoning as I see it is that western Washington tribes were never conquered by "the dudes that boated over to the other side of the continent..."
Instead the goverment intered into a treaty, nation to nation, in order to own the land. If you have a problem with the treaty (and you do) don't blame the Indians. They didn't write it or interpet it, non-Indians did.

[This message has been edited by potter (edited 06-02-2000).]