In reference to the book, Native Nations of North America, criminalization is described as a process where people’s actions are turned into crimes. Criminalization of Indians began to occur when White society pressured them with internal colonialism and racial oppression (Talbot 203). The Quinault, a people of the ocean and forests for hundreds of years, were now the center of blame when it came to the depletion of salmon in the rivers, while the White men drained the land of its resources. Native people were the subject of extensive scapegoating throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, fishing tribes especially. The government took advantage of tribes like the Quinault and ignored the treaties made previously in order to trap them into taking the blame.
In 1855, the Treaty with the Quinaielt was established, granting the Quinault people (a band of the Quinaielt tribe) several rights and claims. As detailed in the book, The Land of the Quinault, one article of the treaty in particular stated: “The right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations is secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the the Territory…” (Storm 282). In this way, the Quinault people were to have full access to the fishing grounds they had previously attended for centuries. They maintained peace for 30 years, until the opening of the trans-continental railroad in 1883. With this development, the demand for salmon skyrocketed, resulting in “an increase of the numbers of non-Indian fishermen and the subsequent increase in the harvest of fish” (Storm 286). As one might imagine, the numbers of fish in the area decreased sharply, causing the government to act against the Indians in order to protect their claim on the fishing grounds. While the Quinault fought for their rights, they were met with a “blanket refusal by the State of Washington to recognize any kind of treaty right at all” (Storm 286). Their goal now was to completely eliminate Treaty Indian fishing because they blamed the Quinault for causing the salmon numbers to drop so drastically. In this way, the Quinault people were criminalized by the State of Washington, condemned for the act of fishing in their own territory, granted to them by the State of Washington.
Sampson, Lisa. “Official Site of Quinault Indian Nation.” Official Site of Quinault Indian Nation, 2003, http://www.quinaultindiannation.com/.
Storm, Jacqueline M., et al. Land of the Quinault. Edited by Pauline K. Capoeman, Second ed., Quinault Indian Nation, 1991.
Talbot, Steve. Native Nations of North America: An Indigenous Perspective. Pearson Education, 2015.
The Quinault Indian Tribe 
Hi Ayelen,
Great post. I like how the Quinault Tribe fought for their fishing rights. The government seems to blame the Natives for taking all the fish, but the government doesn’t take in consideration of the dams that are being built, pollution in the water, and the commercial fisherman.
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I find it interesting that so many tribes had issues with the US trying to regulate their fishing. Its very unfortunate that the government blames the Natives when the US is just as much, if not more, at fault for the lack of fish.
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It amazes me that the US blamed the Native people for shortages in fish, even though it was the Native people land to begin with. Isn’t it bad enough that you took their land but now you want to take their food too, then for it not even to be the Native people fault for the shortages.
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I really liked your post. I find it really interesting that the U.S. government wants to blame the Indians for the fish loss but their wasn’t a problem until the white man moved in.
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I think it is crazy that once there is a fish population issue the government just jumps to blaming the natives. The natives were capable of living off of these fish in large quantities or centuries and there was never a problem. I would think that if someone actually thought about it they could connect the dots. So it does make sense that this would be criminalizing the natives, good job.
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Crazy how they flat out refused to recognize any treaty. That’s like saying you refuse to recognize someone’s existence or humanity.
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