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[[newspaper clipping]]
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Fri., Aug. 14, 1970 S** B

[[photo of 4 men sitting at a table facing the camera]]
[[caption]]
-P-I Photo by Tim Eagan.
'FISH-IN' LEADERS GRIM AS THEY ANNOUNCED SOME WOULD CARRY ARMS TO PROTECT FELLOW TRIBESMEN ON PUYALLUP RIVER
From left, Sid Mills, Roque Duenos, Charles Cantrell and William Lewis gave warning at Seattle Indian Center press conference
[[/caption]]

Indians Will Police Fish-ins

Indians who have been fishing-in on the Puyallup River will be bolstered by an armed police force" in the future, their spokesmen announced yesterday.

In a press conference at the Seattle Indian Center, the four young fish-in leaders warned they will use any force necessary to hold state, city and county law officers at bay.

Charlie Cantrell, a Puyallup Indian, read a statement saying the federal government has done a terrible job of protecting Indian fishing rights. He said: 

"Before someone gets killed by these pistol-packin' game wardens, we're forming our own police force for protection of our people.

"We will not allow the government police powers to arrest, or beat our fishermen or confiscate our nets and boats. We can no longer tolerate police harassment preventing us from our rightful treaty right of fishing."

The four said they represent the Puyallup, Nisqually and several other tribes covered by the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854. They said an elected council authorized the police force, but that the council hasn't been recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

The Indians claim fishing rights on the Nisqually and Puyallup Rivers based on the 1854 treaty. They also claim a right to establish their own police force for use on Indian land. They say they are presentely [[sic]] camped on Indian land.

A fish-in Wednesday was protected by armed guards and the Fisheries Department didn't interfere. It was below the Highway 99 bridge on the Puyallup.

Robert Josephson, chief of the State Fisheries Patrol, said its next move would depend on the Indian's next move. He said:

"We don't have any desire to interfere in what looks like a demonstration. If it seems like they are acturally [[sic]] trying to catch something, then we'll decide what to do about that."

He said few fish are likely to be caught at the present fishing site. 

The Indians said arrests were made in the past few weeks. Josephson said some were for fishing in contempt of court, others were for obstruction arrests. 

The Indians claim they have been beaten by law officers and are forming the armed force only for self-protection. They say women, children and elderly are at the camp. Roque Duenas, another spokesman said:

"When this is a community as it is, you don't pick it up and move it when the war comes to you."
[[/newspaper clipping]]

[[newspaper clipping]]
NEWS TRIBUNE
88TH YEAR NO. 50 Entered as Second Class Matter at Tacoma, Wash. TACOMA, WASH., THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1970 F* TEN CENTS

Form Own Police
Indians Maintain Peace Along Puyallup 
By MALCOLM MacNEY

The Puyallup Indians formed their own police protection force Wednesday night and their fishermen went through the night unraided.

Robert Satiacum, a leader of the continually growing camp along the river, said the force was formed to protect the Indians as they exercise rights they claim were guaranteed them in the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1955.

And for the first time in three nights, things remained peaceful along the river. And some 15 or so persons were patrolling the riverbanks carrying shotguns and rifles.

The guards included Indian men, a few young whites and several young Indian women.

The feeling among the Indians and their sympathizers was summed up by one fisherman who said: "They don't seem to want to settle for anything except chasing us off the river. We won't settle for anything less than our fishing rights."

The camp grew Wednesday. A group of young persons from New York took up residence in a former mail truck.

About a dozen Montana Indians arrived to lent their support to they Puyallups.

Many young persons from the Puget Sound area also moved into camp to show sympathy and give help. 

And the evening ranks swelled considerably with the arrival of Indian families, coming from their regular homes to take part in the struggle for the claimed treaty rights. 

Earlier in the day, Satiacum had a court date, the result of a contempt-of-court citation issued many months ago. He is charged with fishing in violation of a temporary injunction.

As final arguments on the injunction are scheduled Sept. 21, Satiacum's case also was continued until that date. 

After the court session, Satiacum said he will seek to file criminal charges against the State Fisheries Department personnel and Tacoma police who entered the Indian encampment on Monday and Tuesday nights.

On one of the nights, two fisheries cars, a paddy-wagon and seven police cars drove into the camp, on Indian land between the Freeway and Highway 99 bridges, Satiacum said. 

The other night, two police cars drove into camp, he said. 

The Indian leader said this constitutes intimidation, especially for coming on reservation land with clubs and guns.

He has not decided, he said, whether he will make the compliant in state or federal court.

The arguments on the injunction, sought by the state, are also making history, for the U.S. attorney's office in Seattle reported it has entered the suit on the behalf of the Indians.

One reason no Fisheries Department people showed up Wednesday night may have been the announcement earlier that day that the department had adopted off-reservation fishing regulations for the Puyallups.

The fishing season will be Sept. 21 to Oct. 23 in the Puyallup River from the City of Puyallup to the 11th Street bridge.

Fishing will be allowed from 6 p.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Wednesday of each week with set or drift nest with a maximum mesh of 6 1/2 inches. The department also ruled the nets may cover no more than a third of the width of the river.

Fisheries Director Thor C. Tollefson said the regulations may be changed "if an emergency situation arises in regard to the salmon runs."

[[image-man facing river holding a rifle, 3 people in a canoe on the river, bridge in background]]
[[caption]] --News Tribune Staff Photo by Jerry Buck
Puyallup Police Power
Indians Arm to Protect Fishermen [[/caption]]
[[/newspaper clipping]]