Research Guides: Indigenous and First Peoples Studies: Pacific Northwest

Pacific NW Treaty Resources

British Columbia Treaty Commission
The Treaty Commission is an independent body that advocates for and facilitates the recognition and protection of First Nations rights and title, including the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, through the negotiation of modern treaties and tripartite reconciliation agreements.
Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
Curriculum Project: A History of Treaties and Reservations on the
Olympic Peninsula, 1855-1898
Indigenous Digital Archives
The Indigenous Digital Archive’s Treaties Explorer, DigiTreaties.org, was created by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in partnership with the US National Archives Office of Innovation and National Archives Foundation.
Oregon Encyclopedia-- Treaties
Oregon Historical Society history project: Native American Treaties-- Northeastern Oregon.
University of Washington--WA Tribal Treaties and Fishing Rights
Resources specifically related to the 1974 case, United States v. Washington, known as the "Boldt Decision."
Western Washington Treaties
Point-no-Point, Point Elliott, Treaty of Olympia, Neah Bay, and Medicine Creek treaties 1854-1856.

Agencies & Organizations

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
Today, ATNI is a nonprofit organization representing 57 Northwest tribal governments from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, southeast Alaska, Northern California and Western Montana.
Bureau of Indians Affairs -- NW Region
NW Regional Office upholds, maintains, and improve the government-to-government relationships with federally recognized Native American tribes in the Northwest Region.
Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs -- Washington State Tribal Directory
Our goals are to provide the users of this website with timely information to aid in the recognition of the importance of tribal sovereignty, to affirm the government-to-government relationship between the state of Washington and Indian Tribes as outlined under RCW 43.376, to advocate for the social and economic betterment of all American Indians and Alaska Natives living in Washington state, and to serve to assist the state in developing policies consistent with those principles.
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) is a natural resources management support service organization for 20 treaty Indian tribes in western Washington. NWIFC member tribes are: Lummi, Nooksack, Swinomish, Upper Skagit, Sauk-Suiattle, Stillaguamish, Tulalip, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, Nisqually, Squaxin Island, Skokomish, Suquamish, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Makah, Quileute, Quinault, and Hoh.
The NWIFC was created following the 1974 U.S. v. Washington ruling (Boldt Decision) reaffirming the tribes’ treaty-reserved fishing rights.
Northwest Indian health Board
provides public health services and advocates for improvements in Native health for Tribes in Northwest Washington. We are a non-profit corporation with Tribal representatives on our Board of Directors from the Lummi, Nooksack, Samish, Swinomish, Tulalip and Upper Skagit Tribes.
Plateau Peoples' Web Portal
The Plateau Peoples' Web Portal is a collaboration between the Spokan Tribe of Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, the Nimíipuu (Nez Perce) Tribe, and the Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation at Washington State University.
Salmon Defense
The mission of Salmon Defense is to “protect and defend Pacific Northwest salmon and salmon habitat.”
Salmon Defense envisions a healthy environment for all of the region’s inhabitants now and in the future.
Tribes of Washington Map
Part of the educational outreach sponsored by the Washington Indian Gaming Association

Photo of Billy Frank, Jr.Nisqually & of Salmon Carving by Alex McCarty

"Billy Frank Jr. served as chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) for most of its first 30 years. He committed his life to protecting his Nisqually people's traditional way of life and to protecting the endangered salmon whose survival is the focus of tribal life. Beginning with his first arrest as a teenager in 1945 for "illegal" fishing on his beloved Nisqually River, he became a leader of a civil disobedience movement that insisted on the treaty rights (the right to fish in "usual and accustomed places") guaranteed to Washington tribes more than a century before. The "fish-ins" and demonstrations Frank helped organize in the 1960s and 1970s, along with accompanying law suits, led to the Boldt decision of 1974, which restored to the federally recognized tribes the legal right to fish as they always had." -- History Link

Makah artist Alex McCarty was the great-grand son of Hishka, who was chief of the Waatch village, one of the five villages in Neah Bay, Washington. Alex is a carver, painter, printmaker and teacher. Alex earned his Bachelor in Visual Arts from the Evergreen State College in 2000. In 2002 he obtained his Master in Teaching degree from the Evergreen State College. Following his Masters he was the art/carving teacher at Chief Leschi Schools for several years. Alex taught woodcarving studio projects at the Evergreen State College. until his death in 2024.