As part of the Spokane International Film Festival, on March 2, Gonzaga University hosted a screening of the new documentary Fish War. The film explores the legal battles during the 1970s between Washington state and treaty tribes over where tribes were allowed to fish.
Washington restricted tribal citizens to only fishing within their reservations, despite treaties guaranteeing the ability to fish in their usual and accustomed locations in exchange for giving up their ancestral lands.
After protests and fish-ins, the tribes sued the state, and in 1974, Western Washington District Court Judge George Boldt issued his decision: Washington state had broken federal law and was required to let the tribes fish on their traditional grounds.
This week on the program, we’ll hear from two tribal leaders and fishermen and one of the documentarians who helped make the film.
Scott Schuyler is the the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe's policy representative for cultural and natural resources, as well as a tribal elder. He's also fished on the Skagit River for over 50 years.
Ed Johnstone is the chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and a member of the Quinault tribe. This year marks 51 years of his fishing on the Chehalis River, and he shared some of his memories from the protests in the '70s.
Jeff Ostenson is a a documentary filmmaker with North 40 Productions. He co-directed "Fish War" with two filmmakers, as well as acting as a producer. He shared some of his experiences working on the film and some lessons he's learned from his years working with tribes on similar projects.
