Messages From Frank's Landing: A Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way - Review

Sierra, Nov-Dec, 2001 by Christian Martin

Messages From Frank's Landing: A Story of Salmon, Treaties, and the Indian Way by Charles Wilkinson (University of Washington Press, $22.50)

A dangerous dance is being performed among the Bonneville Power Administration, Northwest tribes, and Californians thirsty for energy. The reality of too many demands on too little water is forcing tough decisions on resource allocation. Nature generally takes a backseat in the Northwest.

As a model for a less reckless relation to the environment, Charles Wilkinson gives us the Nisqually Tribe, whose territory once stretched from Mt. Rainier to south Puget Sound. Using interviews, photos, and maps, as well as his experience in Native-rights law, he sketches the tribe's history from its salmon-fishing basis to the genocidal relocation and integration programs of the U.S. government to modern protest.

Linking civil rights and environmental integrity, Wilkinson vividly recreates the Nisqually struggle to maintain salmon fishing rights guaranteed by an 1854 treaty. Lengthy court battles culminated in the 1974 Boldt decision, which gave the Nisqually rights to half the salmon harvest.

"As a lawyer," writes Wilkinson, "I once believed that law could change the world. I no longer think of it that way. The world changes only as new ethics mature. Then the laws change to reflect the new ethics."

In Wilkinson's engaging story, the Nisqually's attempt to balance human needs with nature becomes a parable of these new ethics.