Fishing News
Samish seek fishing rights, calling treaty 'soul of the tribe'
By Paul Shukovsky, [email protected]
The Samish Tribe came to federal court yesterday seeking to regain treaty fishing rights stripped away 24 years ago by a judge with Alzheimer's disease.
But arrayed against the Samish -- indigenous people from the San Juan Islands and western Skagit County -- was the combined might of 10 other Coast Salish tribes and the United States. The tribes and the government argued that upsetting U.S. District Judge George Boldt's decision, and the complex web of agreements that flowed from it governing how the Puget Sound salmon harvest is divided would run roughshod over such important legal principles as finality of judgments.
Samish attorney Craig Dorsay told U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein yesterday that "the soul of the tribe as an Indian people is tied inextricably to its treaty status" because it confirms "the tribe's inherent sovereignty" and "historical origins in antiquity."
The Samish want to vacate Boldt's judgment under a rarely used rule that allows cases to be reopened to achieve justice under extraordinary circumstances. The tribe has explicitly chosen not to raise the issue of the now-deceased Boldt's mental status. His death certificate lists Alzheimer's disease as one of the causes of death.
Rothstein rejected such a challenge a few years ago by three other tribes who, like the Samish, were essentially ruled extinct by Boldt.
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