09/08/2025
Today we Honor Our Past and Celebrate this Holiday known as Fishing Wars Memorial Day. The Fishing Wars of Puget Sound played a major role in establishing our Fishing Rights that were already guaranteed to us though the Medicine Creek Treaty and other Treaties.
Under 19th-century treaties, tribes in the Puget Sound region retained the right to fish at their “usual and accustomed grounds.” However, the state imposed regulations that restricted Native fishing, often arresting Indigenous fishers who tried to exercise their treaty rights.
Tribal members and activists responded with “Fish-Ins” (similar to sit-ins), deliberately fishing in protest. These often led to violent confrontations with police. The conflict culminated in the 1974 Boldt Decision (U.S. v. Washington), where federal Judge George Boldt upheld the treaties, ruling that tribes were entitled to up to 50% of the harvestable fish and reaffirming their status as co-managers of fisheries.
This decision transformed fisheries management in the Pacific Northwest and was a major victory for tribal sovereignty.
The Puyallup River raids were some of the most intense clashes of the Puget Sound “fishing wars” in the 1970s.
Washington State game wardens and police repeatedly targeted Native fishers on the Puyallup River, where the Puyallup Tribe and allied Native activists set up fishing camps to assert their treaty rights. Tensions escalated because the state saw their gillnet fishing as illegal, while the tribes viewed it as a guaranteed right under 19th-century treaties.
Raids involved violence: Officers stormed tribal fishing sites, often at night, cutting nets, seizing gear, and arresting men, women, and even children. Tear gas and clubs were used, and Native people were beaten and jailed.
1970 standoff: The most famous raid came in September 1970, when state police launched a large assault on a Puyallup fishing camp near Tacoma. Tribal members and supporters resisted, leading to a prolonged battle with tear gas, clubs, and arrests of dozens of activists, including well-known leaders like Billy Frank Jr. and Hank Adams.
These raids drew national media attention, framing them as a civil rights struggle. The pressure helped set the stage for the 1974 Boldt Decision, which confirmed tribes’ treaty rights to fish.
