Title: Native American Rights - Hunting And Fishing Rights - Court, Tribes, Treaties, and Tribe   - JRank Articles
Headings: Native American Rights
Native American Rights
Hunting And Fishing Rights
Additional topics

Content: Native American Rights - Hunting And Fishing Rights - Court, Tribes, Treaties, and Tribe   - JRank Articles
Native American Rights
Hunting And Fishing Rights
Hunting and fishing rights are some of the special rights that Native Americans enjoy as a result of the treaties signed between their tribes and the federal government. Historically, hunting and fishing were critically important to Native American tribes. Fish and wildlife were a primary source of food and trade goods, and tribes based their own seasonal movements on fish migrations. In addition, fish and wildlife played a central role in the spiritual and cultural framework of Native American life. As the Court noted, access to fish and wildlife was "not much less necessary to the existence of the Indians than the atmosphere they breathed" ( United States v. Winans, 198 U.S. 371, S. Ct. 662, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1089 [1905]). When Native American tribes signed treaties consenting to give up their lands, the treaties often explicitly guaranteed hunting and fishing rights. When the treaties created reservations, they usually gave tribe members the right to hunt and fish on reservation lands. In many cases, treaties guaranteed Native Americans the continued freedom to hunt and fish in their traditional hunting and fishing locations, even if those areas were outside the reservations.