FACT SHEET WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091

August 2001
Medicine Creek Treaty hunting
boundary determination

Other Resources Mediators' determination report (PDF Format) 1854 Medicine Creek Treaty New Millennium Agreement State v. Buchanan Decision Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission WDFW Tribal Hunting Fact Sheet WDFW Tribal Hunting FAQ

In June 1999, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in the case of State v. Buchanan that hunting rights reserved by Indian tribes in treaties with the federal government apply to open and unclaimed lands within each treaty tribe's traditional hunting grounds. Under the ruling, traditional hunting areas included all of the territory ceded under a treaty.

In its ruling, the state Supreme Court determined that the areas where tribes may hunt are defined by historical hunting practices. These areas certainly include the lands ceded by a tribe under a treaty and could possibly include other areas if a tribe could prove that the area was used for hunting and occupied by the tribe over an extended period before the treaty was signed.

Last December, as a result of the Buchanan decision, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) with the assistance of the State Attorney General's (AG) office entered into an agreement with the four tribes which signed the 1854 Medicine Creek Treaty (Puyallup, Nisqually, Muckleshoot and Squaxin Island), and prosecutors for Thurston, Mason, Lewis, Pierce and Grays Harbor counties.

Because of an imprecise description in the treaty, the location of the southern boundary of the Medicine Creek cession area has been a constant source of disagreement between the Medicine Creek tribes and the state.

The intent of the agreement was to use independent mediators with technical expertise in geography and law to determine a useable southern boundary of the area ceded by the Medicine Creek tribes. This determination, in turn, would be used by state and tribal managers to craft scientifically sound wildlife management plans and provide biologists with the certainty needed to carry out their work.

Besides adhering to the Buchanan decision by providing a process to determine the southern boundary of the ceded area, the agreement reflected the goals of the New Millennium Agreement. That agreement, signed in 1999 by Gov. Gary Locke, Attorney General Christine Gregoire, and all the state's treaty tribes, calls for a government-to-government approach between the state and tribes in developing a long-term hunting agreement.

The agreement between WDFW, the Medicine Creek tribes and the prosecutors also was in keeping with the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission's policy recognizing that the preservation of healthy and diverse fish and wildlife populations is largely dependent on the states and tribes working in a cooperative and collaborative manner.

With the consent of all parties, Dr. Morris Uebelacker, a professor of geography at Central Washington University, and Thomas Bjorgen, an Olympia attorney, were chosen to determine the southernmost boundaries of the Medicine Creek tribes' traditional hunting grounds.

As part of the process, the state and tribes each submitted information materials and briefed the mediators. The parties also were given an opportunity to respond and to submit rebuttal evidence.

In June, the mediators issued their determination that the southern boundary of Medicine Creek tribes' ceded area extended into the Cowlitz River drainage basin - an area not previously considered by the state as the tribes' ceded area. The mediators based their determination on historical evidence which showed that the Medicine Creek tribes traveled, traded and intermarried with members of the Cowlitz Tribe, which occupied the river valley.

Using an 1854 map, the mediators determined that it was former Gov. Isaac Stevens' intention to extend the southern cession line into Cowlitz territory. Specifically, they determined that the cession line was intended to extend from a point east of Mt. Rainier south along the main range of the Cascade Mountains to Old Snowy Mountain, then southwesterly toward Mount St. Helens, and then northwest from Badger Peak, to the headwaters of Skookumchuck Creek.

WDFW and the AGs office will next make a recommendation to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, the nine-member citizen's panel that sets WDFW policy. The Commission will consider the mediators' determination, WDFW and the AGs recommendation, and a rule making process, which would include a public hearing to solicit public testimony.

State wildlife biologists are still trying to determine what impact moving the boundary south could have on upcoming 2001 state and tribal hunting seasons. That information will be made available to hunters once it is known.

Copies of the mediators' determination can be obtained by calling WDFW at (360) 902-2250. It can also be found on the WDFW website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/tribal/medcreekdetermination.pdf [Note: Determination report is in Adobe PDF Format]

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