On Understanding Indigenous Leadership and Treaty Rights

From Standing Rock to the Salish Sea, Indigenous Peoples are standing up to corporations and governments that want to treat their ceded or unceded territory lands as a sacrifice zone for profit. They have a legal right to decide what happens to their land, and the climate — and we stand with them.

From Standing Rock to the Salish Sea, Indigenous Peoples are standing up to corporations and governments that want to treat their ceded or unceded territory lands as a sacrifice zone for profit. They have a legal right to decide what happens to their land, and the climate — and we stand with them.

The history of colonization of Indigenous land is long and complex. In the United States, many tribes signed treaties with the US Government to cede large tracts of their land in exchange for the establishment of reservations and compensation — while retaining certain property rights on the ceded treaty land outside of reservations like the right to fish, hunt, gather, and preserve sacred or culturally important sites. These retained rights on treaty territory are known as usufructuary rights – and this legal instrument is possibly the most important term to understand when talking about Indigenous sovereignty, and fights over oil pipelines and trains. Along with this instrument, some territories have NEVER actually ceded their lands — and are now seeking legal recognition and power.

Here are some of their stories.

Lummi & Quinault Indian Nations/Washington State: In the Pacific Northwest, a number of tribes united to protect traditional fisheries by fighting proposed coal and oil export terminals. In May 2016, the Lummi Nation proclaimed a historic victory for the protection of their treaty rights when the US Army Corps of Engineers denied the massive proposed Pacific Gateway coal export terminal in Cherry Point, Washington. The terminal would have brought 48 million metric tons of coal across the ecologically fragile Salish Sea every year. With a similar defense of fishing rights, the Quinault Indian Nation is now at the helm of the fight against numerous proposed oil train terminals on their coast.