Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/315/681/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 20:43:21+00:00

Document:
Under the provision of the treaty of May 29, 1855, with the Yakima Indian, reserving to the members of the tribe the light to take fish "at all usual and accustomed places, in common with the citizens" of Washington Territory, the State of Washington has the power to impose on the Indians equally with others such restrictions of a purely regulatory nature concerning the time and manner of fishing outside the reservation as are necessary for the conservation of fish, but it cannot require them to pay license fees that are both regulatory and revenue-producing. P. 315 U. S. 685.
7 Wash.2d 124, 109 P.2d 280, reversed.
The appellant, Sampson Tulee, a member of the Yakima tribe of Indians, was convicted in the Superior Court for Klickitat County, Washington, on a charge of catching salmon with a net without first having obtained a license as required by state law. [Footnote 1] The Supreme Court of Washington affirmed. 7 Wash.2d 124, 109 P.2d 280. The case is here on appeal under Section 237(a) of the Judicial Code, 28 U.S.C. § 344(a), the appellant challenging the validity of the State of Washington statute as applied to him on the ground that it was repugnant to a treaty made between the United States and the Yakima Indians.
the government agreed to pay $200,000; to build certain schools, shops, and mills and keep them equipped for twenty years; to erect and equip a hospital, and to provide teachers and various helpers for twenty years. This agreement was ratified and proclaimed as a treaty in 1859. 12 Stat. 951.
"The exclusive right of taking fish in all the streams, where running through or bordering said reservation, is further secured to said confederated tribes and bands of Indians, as also the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places, in common with citizens of the Territory, and of erecting temporary buildings for curing them, together with the privilege of hunting, gathering roots and berries, and pasturing their horses and cattle upon open and unclaimed land."
as an impairment of this right, and that, since its license laws do not discriminate against the Indians, they do not conflict with the treaty. The appellant, on the other hand, claims that the treaty gives him an unrestricted right to fish in the "usual and accustomed places," free from state regulation of any kind. We think the state's construction of the treaty is too narrow, and the appellant's too broad; that, while the treaty leaves the state with power to impose on Indians equally with others such restrictions of a purely regulatory nature concerning the time and manner of fishing outside the reservation as are necessary for the conservation of fish, [Footnote 3] it forecloses the state from charging the Indians a fee of the kind in question here.
spirit which generously recognizes the full obligation of this nation to protect the interests of a dependent people. United States v. Kagama, 118 U. S. 375, 118 U. S. 384; Seufert Bros. Co. v. United States, supra, 249 U. S. 198-199.
Viewing the treaty in this light, we are of the opinion that the state is without power to charge the Yakimas a fee for fishing. A stated purpose of the licensing act was to provide for "the support of the state government and its existing public institutions." Laws of Washington, 1937, c. 149, pp. 529, 534. The license fees prescribed are regulatory, as well as revenue producing. But it is clear that their regulatory purpose could be accomplished otherwise, that the imposition of license fees is not indispensable to the effectiveness of a state conservation program. Even though this method may be both convenient and, in its general impact fair, it acts upon the Indians as a charge for exercising the very right their ancestors intended to reserve. We believe that such exaction of fees as a prerequisite to the enjoyment of fishing in the "usual and accustomed places" cannot be reconciled with a fair construction of the treaty. We therefore hold the state statute invalid as applied in this case.
"It shall be unlawful to catch, take, or fish for food fish with any appliance or by any means whatsoever except with hook and line . . . unless license so to do has been first obtained. . . ."
Remington's Revised Statutes of Washington, Section 5693. "For each dip bag net license for the taking of salmon on the Columbia River, [the license fee shall be] five dollars. . . ." Id. (vol. 7, 1940 Supp.), Section 5703.
Geer v. Connecticut, 161 U. S. 519; Ward v. Race Horse, 163 U. S. 504, 163 U. S. 507; Patsone v. Pennsylvania, 232 U. S. 138; Lacoste v. Dept. of Conservation, 263 U. S. 545, 263 U. S. 549.
Cf. Kennedy v. Becker, 241 U. S. 556. See United States v. Winans, supra, 198 U. S. 384.

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