Native American Civil Rights - Fishing and Hunting Rights

Fishing and Hunting Rights

Although Native Americans consented to or were forced to give up their land, the government allotted them hunting and fishing rights both within their reservations and on their old land that had been sold to and settled by whites. The reserved rights doctrine allowed for tribes to hunt and fish, along with any other rights, as long as they were not specifically denied in a treaty. This angered white hunters and fishers who had restrictions placed on them by the government and they protested against the Indians' right to fish and hunt off of reservations. State agencies pointed out that conservation efforts were possibly compromised by the Native Americans' habits; however the Supreme Court upheld the privilege with certain cases, such as United States v. Winans (1905), even going so far as to appropriate from Native Americans the right to hunt and fish on all of their old grounds whether or not they were currently privately owned. The largest amount of opposition and resentment towards Native Americans' fishing and hunting rights stems from the Pacific Northwest.