USA, et al v. State of Washington, et al

  1. February 06, 2025

    Wash. Tribe Can't Open 50-Year-Old Fishing Rights Dispute

    The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe cannot open a new subproceeding in a 50-year-old case about tribal fishing rights, a Washington federal judge has ruled, finding that the tribe's request is "dead on arrival."

  2. November 09, 2022

    Tribes Push 9th Circ. To Revisit 1974 Fishing Rights Decision

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday waded into the language of a nearly 50-year-old landmark decision as it sought to settle two disputes between Washington tribes that are the latest in decadeslong litigation over tribal fishing rights in the state's waterways.

  3. May 02, 2022

    Upper Skagit Urges 9th Circ. To Back Its Fishing Rights Win

    The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe has slammed the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe's claims to fishing rights on the Skagit River, urging the Ninth Circuit to affirm a lower court ruling that cited a landmark 1974 decision saying Sauk-Suiattle's "usual and accustomed" fishing places did not include the river.

  4. March 29, 2022

    Wash. Tribe Wants Summary Ruling Amid Fishing Rights Trial

    The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe has asked a federal judge in Seattle to limit another Washington tribe's lawful fishing grounds, arguing a historian who testified in their ongoing trial last week didn't show the Stillaguamish Tribe had ever fished in Puget Sound.

  5. March 16, 2022

    Stillaguamish Fishing Rights Fight Headed To Trial In Wash.

    A Washington federal judge has shot down requests from three tribes to determine whether the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians has treaty fishing rights in certain waters around Puget Sound, ruling that the complexities of evidence in the case must be resolved at a bench trial.

  6. February 22, 2022

    Wash. Tribes Can't Get Justices To Hear Fishing Rights Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a petition from the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe to reconsider a Ninth Circuit ruling they said lets other tribes displace their fishing activities, according to an order list released Tuesday.

  7. November 17, 2021

    Seattle Judge Won't Rethink Order In Skagit River Dispute

    A Seattle federal judge said he will not reconsider a decision that Washington tribes say could create ambiguities in case law pertaining to the traditional fishing grounds of Northwest Treaty Tribes.

  8. October 27, 2021

    Wash. Tribe Can't Fish Skagit River, Court Rules

    A Seattle federal judge handed a quick win Tuesday to the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe in its challenge to fishing by the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, saying that Sauk-Suiattle's traditional fishing grounds didn't include the Skagit River.

  9. September 21, 2021

    Wash. Judge Rules Against Lummi Nation In Fishing Dispute

    A Washington federal judge has ruled that certain waters in Puget Sound aren't part of the Lummi Nation's traditional fishing grounds, handing a win to three other tribes that opposed the Lummi tribe's bid to open a crab fishery in the disputed area.

  10. September 10, 2021

    Upper Skagit Says Sauk-Suiattle Is Violating Fishing Order

    The Upper Skagit Indian Tribe has asked a Washington federal judge to let it file a new brief showing that the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe continues to violate an order limiting its fishing area, saying Sauk wrongly authorized members to fish in the Skagit River last fall.