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 the right to fish in accustomed places and the right to act alongside the state as co-managers of salmon and other fish in the region.

On September 4, 1968, about ten Native Americans set fishing nets in the Nisqually River, in defiance of Washington state law. They were supported by a group of about 50 people, representing the Peace and Freedom Movement, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Black Panther Party, and the Socialist Workers Party, who provided guards to prevent confiscation of the fishing nets by the State Fisheries Department. The following day, the nets were temporarily pulled from the river while the fishermen and their supporters traveled to the State Capitol in Olympia to protest in favor of Native American fishing rights. This photo shows the demonstrators on the steps of the Capitol building, with two demonstrators holding a sign reading "Indian Power."

Note on verso: Demonstrators on the state capitol steps there in suport of Indian fishing rights. Persons on hand represented various Indian groups, the peace and freedom party, socialist workers party, black panthers and students for a democratic society.

Caption information source: http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/fish-ins.htm
Caption information source: Eight Salmon Netted During Indian Fish-In, Seattle Times, September 5, 1968, p. 59.