Post by Okwes on Mar 17, 2006 12:09:54 GMT -5
Yakamas at odds over fish
Yakamas at odds over fish By PHIL FEROLITO YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/317992320614089 It's been nearly
20 years since David Sohappy Sr. went to federal prison over a Columbia
River fishing rights case that drew national attention, but fishing
disputes continue for the Sohappys. On a warm morning last September,
Jeff Sohappy — nephew of the late David Sohappy — pulled a
150-foot net filled with dead fish from his Columbia River fishing site
about 20 miles west of The Dalles, Ore. The 49-year-old Yakama says
the net, which probably had gone unchecked for days, didn't belong to
him and had been illegally placed at his site. Either way, he was
cited for wasting fish and told to appear in state court in Oregon.
Normally, cases involving tribal members go to tribal court. Sohappy
says he was cited on the Washington side of the river and suspects he's
being treated unfairly by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission, which issued the citation. "They're just getting too d**n
big- headed," he says. "They're exercising authority that was never
delegated to them." Sohappy isn't the only one at odds with the
Portland-based fish commission formed by four Columbia River tribes
nearly three decades ago to help Columbia River tribes set fishing
regulations and protect treaty fishing rights, habitat and assure
conservation. In fact, mounting complaints of unfair law enforcement
practices on the river led to an unprecedented move by Yakama nation
leaders in January to withdraw from the commission, and revoke its
jurisdiction over their tribal members. "They're trying to claim that
they're the head of the whole Columbia River, but they're not," says
Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Louis Cloud. "We have our own
enforcement. We don't need Inter-Tribal." The Yakama's move has left
the fish commission wondering why the tribe pulled out, says
Inter-Tribal enforcement chief John Johnson. "I have no hostilities
with the tribe," he says. "Tribal members still call us, still consider
us their law enforcement, and we still respond to a lot of (Yakama)
calls." Johnson said the commission's officers usually turn violations
over to tribal police for further investigation. If tribal police aren't
available, they will then forward the citations to tribal prosecutors if
the evidence is strong enough. That wasn't the case with Sohappy, so
his citation was turned over to state authorities, Johnson says. "If
we hadn't taken immediate action, then we could have gotten in trouble
for derelict of duty," he says. "The bottom line is, we're responsible
for protecting the resources." Inter-Tribal officers are delegated
authority by the four river tribes — Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla
and Nez Perce — and they are also commissioned police officers in
Washington and Oregon. With its 11 officers, the commission polices
about 300 miles of river between the Bonneville and McNary dams.
Sohappy, however, says that's just another attempt to give states
authority over tribal fisheries. "I think the (Yakama) tribe should
step in and do something about it," he says of his case. Other
complaints include tribal fishermen being caught in fish buying stings.
Nearly two years ago, tribal fisherman and commercial fish-buyer Simon
Sampson was ticketed on the Columbia River by Inter-Tribal officers
after selling two salmon to an undercover state fish and game officer
just days before the commercial season opened. He prevailed in tribal
court. Federal regulators set commercial seasons when salmon can be
sold. Selling fish out of season is illegal. Sampson says such sting
operations echo what happened to David Sohappy Sr., his son, David Jr.,
and other Yakamas convicted in a case that made national headlines in
the early 1980s. They were fishing and selling the fish outside of
federal and tribal fishing seasons. They called it subsistence fishing
allowed by the treaty. But federal authorities disagreed and David
Sohappy Sr. was sentenced to five years for selling 314 fish to
undercover federal agents. His son and others received similar
sentences. Federal officials blamed fishing out of season for taking
some 40,000 fish from the river. But a later federal study revealed that
fish weren't missing. Instead, fluoride waste being dumped into the
river from an aluminum plant near Goldendale kept salmon from entering
fishways at John Day Dam. Not surprisingly, the convictions of the
Sohappys and others left tribal members split on whether the fish
commission was doing any good. And in 1987, tribal members narrowly
voted to pull out of the commission. Tribal leaders, however, failed to
act on that vote and other similar votes later. Saying little has
changed, tribal fisherman and some tribal leaders argue Inter-Tribal
fishing regulations interfere with treaty fishing rights, and that it
has no authority to regulate tribal fisheries. "We have our own
regulations." says Cloud, the Yakama Tribal Council chairman. "We are
the only tribe on the Columbia River that has permanent (fishing)
regulations." Staying with the commission would be wise and eliminates
the need for state and federal enforcement of tribal fisheries, which
caused much controversy in the past, Johnson says. "We don't want to
go back to that type of enforcement, but there will be some kind of
regulation on the river to protect the resource," he says. Yakama
tribal member Ted Strong, who spent a decade as Inter-Tribal's executive
director, says the tribe needs to carefully consider its decision.
Inter-Tribal has considerable data and resources, including noted
scientists and lawyers protecting the four tribes' treaty rights and
fisheries, he says. How will those resources now be divided between
the tribes? he asks. "It can be done, but it's going to have to be
done very carefully," he says. But tribal fishermen say the problem
goes beyond fishing regulations. Inter-Tribal officers too often assist
other law enforcement agencies in seeking out fishermen wanted on
nonfishing warrants, some fisherman say. Earlier this month,
Inter-Tribal officers called Yakama tribal member Pete Jackson off a
fishing scaffold he was repairing on the Columbia River and arrested him
on a drunken and disorderly warrant issued in Hood River, Ore. "I'm
just getting sick and tired of those guys," says Pete Jackson's father,
Johnny. "Every year when we start getting ready for fishing, they come
up with all these warrants."
Yakamas at odds over fish By PHIL FEROLITO YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC
www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/317992320614089 It's been nearly
20 years since David Sohappy Sr. went to federal prison over a Columbia
River fishing rights case that drew national attention, but fishing
disputes continue for the Sohappys. On a warm morning last September,
Jeff Sohappy — nephew of the late David Sohappy — pulled a
150-foot net filled with dead fish from his Columbia River fishing site
about 20 miles west of The Dalles, Ore. The 49-year-old Yakama says
the net, which probably had gone unchecked for days, didn't belong to
him and had been illegally placed at his site. Either way, he was
cited for wasting fish and told to appear in state court in Oregon.
Normally, cases involving tribal members go to tribal court. Sohappy
says he was cited on the Washington side of the river and suspects he's
being treated unfairly by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission, which issued the citation. "They're just getting too d**n
big- headed," he says. "They're exercising authority that was never
delegated to them." Sohappy isn't the only one at odds with the
Portland-based fish commission formed by four Columbia River tribes
nearly three decades ago to help Columbia River tribes set fishing
regulations and protect treaty fishing rights, habitat and assure
conservation. In fact, mounting complaints of unfair law enforcement
practices on the river led to an unprecedented move by Yakama nation
leaders in January to withdraw from the commission, and revoke its
jurisdiction over their tribal members. "They're trying to claim that
they're the head of the whole Columbia River, but they're not," says
Yakama Tribal Council Chairman Louis Cloud. "We have our own
enforcement. We don't need Inter-Tribal." The Yakama's move has left
the fish commission wondering why the tribe pulled out, says
Inter-Tribal enforcement chief John Johnson. "I have no hostilities
with the tribe," he says. "Tribal members still call us, still consider
us their law enforcement, and we still respond to a lot of (Yakama)
calls." Johnson said the commission's officers usually turn violations
over to tribal police for further investigation. If tribal police aren't
available, they will then forward the citations to tribal prosecutors if
the evidence is strong enough. That wasn't the case with Sohappy, so
his citation was turned over to state authorities, Johnson says. "If
we hadn't taken immediate action, then we could have gotten in trouble
for derelict of duty," he says. "The bottom line is, we're responsible
for protecting the resources." Inter-Tribal officers are delegated
authority by the four river tribes — Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla
and Nez Perce — and they are also commissioned police officers in
Washington and Oregon. With its 11 officers, the commission polices
about 300 miles of river between the Bonneville and McNary dams.
Sohappy, however, says that's just another attempt to give states
authority over tribal fisheries. "I think the (Yakama) tribe should
step in and do something about it," he says of his case. Other
complaints include tribal fishermen being caught in fish buying stings.
Nearly two years ago, tribal fisherman and commercial fish-buyer Simon
Sampson was ticketed on the Columbia River by Inter-Tribal officers
after selling two salmon to an undercover state fish and game officer
just days before the commercial season opened. He prevailed in tribal
court. Federal regulators set commercial seasons when salmon can be
sold. Selling fish out of season is illegal. Sampson says such sting
operations echo what happened to David Sohappy Sr., his son, David Jr.,
and other Yakamas convicted in a case that made national headlines in
the early 1980s. They were fishing and selling the fish outside of
federal and tribal fishing seasons. They called it subsistence fishing
allowed by the treaty. But federal authorities disagreed and David
Sohappy Sr. was sentenced to five years for selling 314 fish to
undercover federal agents. His son and others received similar
sentences. Federal officials blamed fishing out of season for taking
some 40,000 fish from the river. But a later federal study revealed that
fish weren't missing. Instead, fluoride waste being dumped into the
river from an aluminum plant near Goldendale kept salmon from entering
fishways at John Day Dam. Not surprisingly, the convictions of the
Sohappys and others left tribal members split on whether the fish
commission was doing any good. And in 1987, tribal members narrowly
voted to pull out of the commission. Tribal leaders, however, failed to
act on that vote and other similar votes later. Saying little has
changed, tribal fisherman and some tribal leaders argue Inter-Tribal
fishing regulations interfere with treaty fishing rights, and that it
has no authority to regulate tribal fisheries. "We have our own
regulations." says Cloud, the Yakama Tribal Council chairman. "We are
the only tribe on the Columbia River that has permanent (fishing)
regulations." Staying with the commission would be wise and eliminates
the need for state and federal enforcement of tribal fisheries, which
caused much controversy in the past, Johnson says. "We don't want to
go back to that type of enforcement, but there will be some kind of
regulation on the river to protect the resource," he says. Yakama
tribal member Ted Strong, who spent a decade as Inter-Tribal's executive
director, says the tribe needs to carefully consider its decision.
Inter-Tribal has considerable data and resources, including noted
scientists and lawyers protecting the four tribes' treaty rights and
fisheries, he says. How will those resources now be divided between
the tribes? he asks. "It can be done, but it's going to have to be
done very carefully," he says. But tribal fishermen say the problem
goes beyond fishing regulations. Inter-Tribal officers too often assist
other law enforcement agencies in seeking out fishermen wanted on
nonfishing warrants, some fisherman say. Earlier this month,
Inter-Tribal officers called Yakama tribal member Pete Jackson off a
fishing scaffold he was repairing on the Columbia River and arrested him
on a drunken and disorderly warrant issued in Hood River, Ore. "I'm
just getting sick and tired of those guys," says Pete Jackson's father,
Johnny. "Every year when we start getting ready for fishing, they come
up with all these warrants."