Several treaties signed by the U.S. government and American Indians over 140 years ago apply to the sanctuary and are integrated into its management. Essentially they are treated as international treaties which the sanctuary management plan should incorporate. To allay fears the sanctuary would interfere with existing treaty rights, particularly fishing rights, regulations explicitly maintain the rights of the tribes. Sanctuary and tribal officials strive to strike a proper balance between protecting natural resources and preserving traditional rights to those resources in a manner compatible with resource protection. The young sanctuary includes tribal representatives on its advisory committee to ensure that this cooperation continues, and education and interpretive programs are sure to incorporate native culture.
Indian legend has it that the giant sea stacks of Olympic Coast are the eyes of ancestors.
For sanctuary officials and tribal representatives alike, they serve as watchful symbols of the important work to be done. As on the Olympic Coast, the main concerns of local native peoples along Michigan s Thunder Bay at Lake Huron centers on the effects of the proposed sanctuary on existing treaties. However, a treaty signed in 1836 extended their rights into sanctuary waters. One example of the types of issues to be worked out is a standing tribal agreement to not fish in several areas in the Great Lakes, including an area in the proposed sanctuary. The agreement expires in the year 2000, when local tribes want to once again commercially fish in sanctuary waters.