Introduction
In 1855, the United States government negotiated a treaty with Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation that ceded 6.4 million acres of tribal ground. The treaty allowed the tribes to maintain hunting and fishing rights on some of these lands. This paper explains the Treaty of 1855 and what it led to (CTUIR Tribal Hunting Rights Reserved in 1855 Treaty).
The Treaty of 1855
When Tribal leaders negotiated the Treaty of 1855 with the U.S. Government on June 9, 1855, they ceded to the United States some 6.4 million acres of land in what is now Southeast Washington and Northeast Oregon while retaining the Reservation as a permanent homeland (Treaty of 1855). Despite giving up its ownership rights to the ceded lands, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) reserved certain rights
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This applies to state and federal lands where hunting is a permitted use with only such restrictions as are placed on Tribal Members by the Fish and Wildlife Commission through its Fish and Wildlife Code and annual regulations. Open areas include all National Forest Lands, State Forest lands, Bureau of Land Management Lands, and National Wildlife Refuges where hunting is permitted. Additionally, hunting in areas of federal or state ownership where hunting is not an acceptable use, such as safety zones or areas closed for conservation or health and human safety reasons, may not be permissible (CTUIR Tribal Hunting Rights Reserved in 1855 Treaty).
Tribes that took part and are included in the Treaty of 1855 are the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Nez Perce Tribe, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation (FAQ on tribal treaty hunting rights and