Treaty rights can be annulled

Sat., Jan. 9, 2016

I read the well-written Jan. 3 editorial, which mentions the Boldt decision about

Indian treaty rights, all too well-known for years. What is apparently not well known, or

ever mentioned, is that treaty rights can be abrogated by Congress.

So, with the passage of the Endangered Species Act, at least two federal courts have held that claimed treaty rights were abrogated, e.g., an Indian killed a black panther in Florida and some eagle in,

I think, Minnesota.

Further, since legislative intent may be a big issue in such cases, in one of the ESA hearings a legislator asked if treaty rights would be abrogated. The answer was yes. These cases and their progeny since then would seem to this writer to be journalism dynamite in Washington, since totally overlooked?

Don Gulliford

Mercer Island

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