For Immediate Release: Washington State Attorney General Attacks Tribal Sovereignty Again: Challenges Skokomish Tribe’s ownership of a River 

For Immediate Release:

Redding Ca

For Questions:

Patricia Herman President Protect The Wolves™ (530) 377-3031

Roger Dobson Director of Grants (530) 377-3031

pressreleaseinfo@protectthewolves.com

Protect The Wolves™ just reached out to “Guy” Miller, Skokomish Tribal Chairman, after seeing the blatant disregard for the law with continued Discrimination, and stating that they could bait the Federal Government to take action because they can not sue Native American Tribes.

Skokomish Tribal Chairman Charles “Guy” Miller has requested that Protect The Wolves™ address the Tribal Council in an upcoming Tribal Council meeting with the documented proof that we have that Washington States Attorney General has blatantly Discriminated against Tribal Groups,  as well as presenting information for their Endorsement of Protect The Wolves™. Which will be published as soon as We are Scheduled. Protect The Wolves™ will be inviting additional Washington State Senators John McCoy and Kevin Ranker to attend this very same Tribal Council Meeting as well as Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. We will also be reaching out to other Tribal Leaders and requesting their presence, Bill Iyall, Cowlitz Tribal Chairman, as well as many other Northwest Tribes.

Tribal Council Meeting location is 80 N Tribal Center Rd, Skokomish, WA 98584. Stay Tuned  for the timing of this Monumental Event. Press Releases will be sent to all Seattle and Olympia TV Stations.

It has already been documented by Protect The Wolves™ that Washington States Attorney General and his assistants discriminate against Native Americans. If his Assistants fail to recognize Our Sacred Religious Rights and beliefs then in our Humble Opinion so does Ferguson Himself. Afterall he allowed them to make such statements without penalty or firing them.

Reposted from: Source: Washington State Attorney General Attacks Tribal Sovereignty, Again: Challenges Skokomish Tribe’s ownership of a River | Last Real Indians

On February 21st 2018, Washington State Assistant Attorney General Mike Grossmann announced that their office will be seeking to challenge the Skokomish Tribe’s ownership of the Skokomish river in order to open the river up to fishing for non-Tribal members.

In 2016, the Skokomish Tribe blocked public access to the lower stretch of the river that runs along the edge of their reservation. According to the Kipsap Sun, “The move [to close public access the river] came after the U.S. Department of the Interior issued an opinion reaffirming the river was a part of the Skokomish Reservation and not controlled by the state.”

In a presentation to the Kitsap Poggie Club in Bremerton, WA Grossman stated, “lawyers for the state believe the Department of the Interior erred in its opinion supporting the tribe’s ownership of the river. But the state can’t sue the tribe or federal government because both governments have sovereign immunity. An alternative is to bait the federal government into suing the state by reopening the Skokomish to recreational fishing.”

“We never relinquished ownership of the river.”  ~ Skokomish Tribal Chairman Charles “Guy” Miller

The Skokomish Tribe had previously asked the Department of the Interior [DOI] to review their right to the river and in January 2016 the DOI issued an opinion backing the tribe’s ownership claim. DOI concluded that the boundaries of the Skokomish reservation, which were established by the 1855 Treaty of Point No Point and an 1874 executive order, both encompassed ownership the river to the Skokomish Tribe.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who has risen to national prominence due to aggressively challenging the Trump administrations agenda, has also aggressively challenged Tribe’s treaty rights.

In 2001, twenty-one Tribes sued Washington State over culverts and their impact on Salmon. Tribe’s argued that the culverts, steel pipes or concrete tunnels that carry streams beneath roadways, “are too narrow or too steep for salmon to swim through.” The culverts, they argued, posed a significant barrier for salmon populations.

In 2013, Federal Court Judge Ricardo Martinez ruled that tribal treaty-reserved rights to harvest salmon include the right to have those salmon protected so they are available for harvest. He ordered the State to fix and reopen 450 of the 800 most significant salmon-blocking culverts by 2017.

He argued that, “tribal treaty-reserved rights to harvest salmon include the right to have those salmon protected so they are available for harvest.”

In August 2017, AG Ferguson filed an appeal to the culvert case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a press release he states, “Tribal treaty rights are vitally important. I appreciate and share the goal of restoring salmon habitat, but the state has strong legal arguments that the Ninth Circuit decision is overbroad.”

He further argued that, “some culverts do not harm salmon and that the tribes’ treaty rights to fish do not mean they are entitled to enough fish to provide a “moderate living” from fishing.”

Bob Ferguson’s war on treaty rights continues.

by Wakíƞyaƞ Waánataƞ (Matt Remle- Lakota)

Source: Washington State Attorney General Attacks Tribal Sovereignty, Again: Challenges Skokomish Tribe’s ownership of a River | Last Real Indians