III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 573 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Boldt decision of 1974. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2024 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. MERKLEY) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Indian Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Boldt decision 

of 1974. 

Whereas, since time immemorial, fish have been an integral 

part of Native American cultural, spiritual, and economic 

life in the Northwest; 

Whereas, between 1854 and 1859, the United States Government signed a series of treaties with Indian Tribes across 

the Northwest, reserving to the Indian Tribes the right 

to fish in their usual and accustomed places, in common 

with the citizens of the Washington Territory; 

Whereas article VI of the Constitution of the United States 

recognizes treaties as the supreme law of the land, including those with Indian Tribes; 


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•SRES 573 IS 

Whereas, after the Indian Tribes signed these treaties, their 

right to fish in accordance with these treaties was not 

upheld, leading to more than 100 years of litigation; 

Whereas, following decades of arrests and fish-ins during 

which Billy Frank Jr. and other Tribal members exercised their treaty-protected fishing rights, Indian Tribes 

won a historic legal victory protecting those rights; 

Whereas, on February 12, 1974, United States District 

Court Judge George Boldt ruled in United States v. 

State of Washington, 384 F. Supp. 312 (W.D. Wash. 

1974), that— 

(1) Indian Tribes that were parties to treaties which 

reserved their right to fish could take up to 50 percent 

of the fish harvest that passed through their recognized 

fishing grounds, to be calculated on a river-by-river, runby-run basis; 

(2) State law could not regulate treaty-based tribal 

fishing rights; and 

(3) Treaty Tribes would co-manage fisheries in 

Washington State; 

Whereas the decision was affirmed by the United States 

Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States 

v. State of Washington, 520 F.2d 676 (9th Cir. 1976); 

Whereas Tribal co-management of Washington fisheries led 

to the creation of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission; 

Whereas the Northwest Indian Fishing Commission member 

Indian Tribes include the Lummi, Nooksack, Swinomish, 

Upper Skagit, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish, Tulalip, 

Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Nisqually, Squaxin Island, 


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•SRES 573 IS 

Skokomish, Suquamish, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Makah, Quileute, 

Quinault, and Hoh Tribes; 

Whereas the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission 

member Indian Tribes include the Nez Perce Tribe, the 

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, 

the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands 

of the Yakama Nation; 

Whereas sharply declining salmon populations continue to 

threaten the ability of the Indian Tribes to exercise their 

treaty rights, secure their economic futures, and protect 

important cultural practices; and 

Whereas the Boldt decision reinforced Tribal sovereignty, elevated the legal status of Tribal treaty rights, and advanced resource co-management: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 

3 Boldt decision; 

4 (2) recognizes the importance of Tribal treaty 

5 rights; 

6 (3) acknowledges the invaluable role that the 

7 Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and the Co8 lumbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission play in 

9 fisheries management; and 

10 (4) reaffirms its commitment to support salmon 

11 recovery. 

Æ 


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