In the 1960s, Native Americans and their supporters began protesting Washington State laws restricting Native American fishing rights that had been granted in a series of treaties with the United States between 1854 and 1855. The Survival of the American Indian Society (SAIA), the NAACP, and the National Indian Youth Council (NIYC), coordinated a series of protests and peaceful demonstrations known at the time collectively as the "fish wars," which eventually led to the Boldt Decision (United States v. Washington, 1974), a federal ruling guaranteeing Washington tribes half the state's salmon and steelhead trout catch.

In this image, actor and political activist Marlon Brando, Jr. (1924-2004), stands in a boat between John Yaryan, left, an Episcopal clergyman, and Robert "Bob" Satiacum (1929-1991), right, Puyallup tribal leader. The men were returning from net fishing in the Puyallup River near Tacoma as part of a planned "fish-in," observed from the shore by a reporter holding a movie camera. Brando and Yaryan were arrested on charges of illegal fishing and then released without charge. Satiacum was not detained but was served a summons to appear in court the following week.

Caption information source: http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/fish-ins.htm
Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, March 2, 1964, page 1