The Boldt Decision: A Turning Point in Native American Fishing Rights

Elizabeth Ramirez Alexander Robertson February 17, 2013

We chose to research the Boldt Decision and Native American fishing rights because of its significance in the area that we live. At first, each of us was not sure what topic to research, but wanted one that occurred in Washington State. After looking through some topic suggestions and with our teachers recommendation, we decided to work as a group on the Boldt Decision. The Boldt Decision fits our wants and needs perfectly because it occurred in Washington State, we both know people that have significant knowledge on the topic, and the Boldt Decision fits the theme of Turning Points in History. We started our research in mid-October by gathering books from our school and local libraries on our topic. In December, we went on two research field trips. The first one was to the Seattle Public Library, where we found out that historical Seattle Times were accessible online with a library card. After the field trip, we then began to gather newspaper articles online. These articles were very useful for us because they were usually from the non-Indian point of view on the Boldt Decision. Later, we went on a field trip to the University of Washington were we found primary and secondary sources. At the end of December, Elizabeth conducted an interview with her aunt who works for Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, NWIFC. Her aunt talked about what the NWIFC is, how it was formed and what biologists there are now doing to protect the fish. In early January, we had an interview with Merle Hayes and Rich Brooks. Merle Hayes is a tribal elder who represents the Suquamish Tribe at the NWIFC. Rich Brooks is the environmental program manager for the Suquamish Tribe. Mr. Brooks and Mr. Hayes both shared useful information that helped us understand the Indian side of the fishing comanagement. The next day, we interviewed Peter Becker. Mr. Becker was a scientist and

fishermen who was trying to help non-Indian fishermen get around the rules or avoid the impacts of the Boldt Decision. After writing separate papers for our teacher, we started to build a website. We chose to do a website because the sources we have contain a various amount of pictures and it seemed to be the best entry choice for our needs. We found pictures from the internet, reviewed our interviews, and worked on paragraphs for our website. After our regional and state competition, we continued to add pictures and videos to the website as well as using our judging sheet as advice so we could make improve it. The Boldt Decision is a turning point in Native American fishing rights and Washington State fisheries management. The Boldt Decision reaffirmed Native Americans of Washington States treaty rights, providing them with a fifty percent allocation of the harvestable salmon and steelhead and allowed them to manage their share of the fisheries. The Boldt Decision affects every fisherman in Washington State because of the regulations on the amount of fish caught by non-Indian and Indian fishermen.