Snoqualmie Indian Tribe takes fight for hunting and gathering rights to SCOTUS

The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe is in a battle with the state of Washington over hunting and gathering rights. In a recently filed petition, the tribe is asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision that says the tribe is not entitled to hunt off reservation, on open unclaimed land managed by the state.



There are 29 federally-recognized tribes in the state of Washington, and the vast majority have rights that are covered by a variety of treaties, but there is one treaty in particular whose interpretation has been the sticking point for the Snoqualmie people. The Treaty of Point Elliott was signed in 1855, guaranteed hunting and fishing rights, along with land to all Washington-area Tribes that signed on.

Due to a lower court ruling in 1979, the Snoqualmie have been denied the same rights as neighboring tribes like the Suquamish and Muckleshoot, and they want that to change.