History of Treaty of Point Elliott
Published 11:21 pm Thursday, August 23, 2007
1855: The Treaty of Point Elliott signed in what is now Mukilteo. The treaty established the Tulalip Indian Reservation and reserves tribal hunting and fishing rights.
1871: The Indian Appropriations Act ends the right of the president and Senate to deal with Indian tribes through treaties.
1873: A presidential executive order clarifies the scope of the present-day Tulalip Indian Reservation.
1889: Washington joins the U.S. as the 42nd state.
1924: All Indians are declared to be U.S. citizens.
1934: Indian Reorganization Act sets up modern tribal governments, promoting the return of reservation lands to communal ownership.
1974: Judge George Boldt, in a federal court case in Washington State, rules that Indian tribes are entitled to half of all the annual fish catch. The ruling kicks off a series of other lawsuits designed to interpret Boldt’s ruling.
1979: U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Boldt decision by a 6-3 vote.
1984: Washington voters pass a law putting the state in charge of all fishing rights, including Indian fishing rights.
1985: Federal court confirms location of Tulalip fishing areas and that Tulalip is the successor to the treaty rights of the Snohomish, Skykomish and Snoqualmie tribes.
1994: Federal District Court Judge Edward Rafeedie rules in a lawsuit that Western Washington tribes reserved the right to harvest shellfish when they signed their treaties.
Wednesday: Federal District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez rules that the state violated the Treaty of Point Elliott by failing to maintain culverts that are barriers to salmon runs.
