''Sohappy v. Smith'', 302
F. Supp. 899 (D. Or. 1969), was a federal case heard by the
United States District Court for the District of Oregon
The United States District Court for the District of Oregon (in case citations, D. Ore. or D. Or.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the state of Oregon. It was created in 1859 when the state was admitted to the Union. ...
, decided in 1969 and amended in 1975. It began with fourteen members of the
Yakama
The Yakama are a Native American tribe with nearly 10,851 members, based primarily in eastern Washington state.
Yakama people today are enrolled in the federally recognized tribe, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Their Ya ...
who sued the U.S. state of
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...
over its fishing regulations. The federal court combined the case with another, ''United States v. Oregon'', in which the U.S. federal government sued the state along with the Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes.
The ruling issued by judge
Robert C. Belloni in 1969 is known as the "Belloni Decision" or the "Fair Share Doctrine."
It is an interpretation of the decision in ''
Puyallup Tribe v. Department of Game of Washington'' (1968).
Belloni's ruling acknowledged the right of several tribes of
Native Americans to fish in the
Columbia River with minimal regulation by the government of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
or
local governments
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
.
U.S. v. Oregon
/ref>
The rights were further clarified in the "Boldt Decision
''United States v. Washington'', 384 F. Supp. 312 (W.D. Wash. 1974), aff'd, 520 F.2d 676 (9th Cir. 1975), commonly known as the Boldt Decision (from the name of the trial court judge, George Hugo Boldt), was a legal case in 1974 heard in ...
" (''United States v. Washington'') of 1974.
See also
*Billy Frank Jr.
Billy Frank Jr. (March 9, 1931 – May 5, 2014) was a Native American environmental leader and treaty rights activist. A Nisqually tribal member, Frank led a grassroots campaign for fishing rights on the tribe's Nisqually River, located in Wa ...
*''Corfield v. Coryell
''Corfield v. Coryell'' (6 Fed. Cas. 546, no. 3,230 C.C.E.D.Pa. 1823) was a landmark decision decided by Justice Bushrod Washington, sitting as a judge for the U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. In it, he upheld a Ne ...
''
References
United States Native American case law
United States District Court for the District of Oregon cases
Land use in Oregon
1969 in United States case law
1969 in Oregon
Native American history of Oregon
Yakama
{{Oregon-stub