The Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians is fighting a legal battle to retain fishing rights they’ve had for generations.
In 1836, a treaty was signed between the United States government and several Native American tribes that retained the tribes’ fishing rights permanently. These fishing rights are significant, not just for cultural reasons but for economic reasons as well.
On Aug. 24, U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Maloney in Kalamazoo ruled to regulate all tribal fishing rights under the treaty. Tribal officials said this has damaged their ability to maintain fisheries programs for the next 24 years.
The Sault Tribe’s fisheries program is the largest commercial fishing operation in Michigan and employs dozens of people. The fisheries program is involved in more than just fishing, but also conducts research and breeding programs to help maintain the health of the Great Lakes.
Tribal hatcheries across the Upper Peninsula are responsible for stocking more than 18 million walleye in Michigan waterways since 1995 and has breeding programs for other types of fish as well.
The fisheries also have partnerships with many different organizations including other tribal governments, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others.
To protect fishing rights, the tribe has announced they will appeal the ruling.
“The Sault Tribe has been deeply disappointed in the court’s order which restricts our rights as a sovereign nation, affects the livelihood of our citizens, and limits the ability of our people to feed themselves,” said Sault Tribe Chairman Austin Lowes in a press release. “Our legal counsel has reached out to the other parties in this case to see if there was room for settlement outside the legal avenue of an appeal. Unfortunately, those conversations proved to be in vain. The tribe has no choice now, but to pursue an appeal and fight for a better outcome for our citizens.”
The tribe’s next legal steps will be to file a notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which it intends to do by the Oct. 23 deadline.