Fish Wars

The Fish Wars were a series of civil disobedience protests by Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States during the 1960s and 1970s.

This was done through a series of fish-in demonstrations in the Pacific Northwest, that started in 1963, grew to attract celebrity participation and national media attention before the US Federal Government intervened to sue the state of Washington.

In 1957, the Washington Supreme Court was split 4–4 on the issue regarding the arrest of Robert Satiacum, a Puyallup and Yakima man, for fishing steelhead with fixed gill nets out-of-season.

Since the case was settled in the lower courts, and the judges found Satiacum guilty, the state was allowed to make decisions regarding the fishing and hunting of Native Americans.

This bleak situation in the early 1960s grew even worse in 1963 when Walter Neubrech, the head of the enforcement division of the Department of Game, provided a clear example of the negative image of Native Americans being put forward in the media.

Some native fishermen refused to obtain licenses or obey fish and game restrictions on certain fisheries, eventually setting up encampments along the shore illegal from the state's perspective but within the federal law and the 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek.

[5] In 1963, the first fish-in was held at Frank's Landing downstream from the Nisqually Reservation, with the intent to protest the failure to follow through with the terms of the Treaty of Medicine Creek.

Neubrech then said, “It has been very difficult for a law enforcement agency to maintain dignity and proper respect for the laws of the state of Washington in view of the tremendous amount of public attention that has been directed towards this Indian fishery off their reservation.” He then claimed the drop in fish population on the Puyallup River was solely due to the unrestricted commercial fishing practices of "three Indian brothers."

Neubrech also warned the public in his press release of the possibility of Indians resorting to hunting deer and elk on national forest land.

Neubrech final claim in his press release was that the Indian community is divided into "good" and "bad," with him saying, "A fair number [of Native Americans] fish commercially during established seasons in keeping with conservation laws.

"[4] One protester threw a fire bomb onto a bridge to slow the game officials' advance, but police eventually raided the boats and camps and forcefully broke up the demonstrators with tear gas and clubs.

[7] By the mid-1980s, however, cooperation between the various tribes led to a stronger, unified presence in fisheries management under the terms of the Boldt Decision, effectively putting an end to the violence, though legal disputes continue.