Tribes didn’t cause problem

After reading the letter labeled “Tribes must help restore fish” (April 4), it became obvious to me that Todd Sudick has no understanding of this issue or the Indian people. It didn’t matter when these treaties were signed, Todd. What matters is the Columbia River Treaty was signed after the river was illegally taken away from the Indians along with their land.

Now, as for the fishing fleets, there has been no documented evidence of the Indian fishing techniques causing any problems with the salmon. On the other hand, the dam and fishing practices of the white people have wiped out entire rivers of all their fish. The rivers were preserved for thousands of years until the white man came along.

Yes, my friend, the long-term health of the salmon was never an issue for thousands of years when the Indians had charge of the rivers and land. But in just a few hundred years the white man completely decimated entire races of Indian people, the land, the buffalo and, yes, the salmon. It’s all documented in Dee Brown’s book, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”

James Cecil “Little Blossom” Fiorito

Spokane Tribe

Spokane