Watchlist: ‘Fish War’

By Kamiah Koch

Social media/digital journalist

“We have always been taught that when the tide is out, the table is set,” a voiceover said in the trailer for a recently released documentary called “Fish War.”

“Fish War” follows the violent clashes between law enforcement and Tribal people of Washington when their treaty rights to fish and hunt in their usual and accustomed grounds were broken in the 1960s.

A man interviewed for the documentary explains the Tribes’ traditional practices became illegal under state law.  

“Sixty years ago, my father was still getting his head bashed in on the riverbanks,” a man said pointing across the water. “He was getting his head bashed in in Olympia.”

The trailer for the documentary shares recent interviews with Tribal people who protested for fishing rights during the 1960s, paired with footage of Native people getting arrested and attacked for fishing along the river during that time.

The somber mood in the two-minute trailer switches to a rock music beat halfway through as the Tribes began to fight back.

One man says the objective of the Native people’s retaliation was to catch the attention of the federal government.

“We burned one of their bridges,” a Tribal Elder said as footage of the bridge is shown going up in plumes of smoke. The trailer jumps back to the interview with the same Elder as she begins to laugh at the memory.

The Native protestors eventually caught the attention of the lawyers who signed on to take their battle to court.

“The state’s management was like a good old boys club and their position was racist,” one of the lawyers said.

A broadcast news interview with a non-Native woman during the 1960s shows the impression some had of Native people.

“All the sudden we are the bad guys, we are taking something away from the poor Indian who never had anything,” she said.

The violent battle was finally brought to court where the decision was a victory for Washington Tribes in 1974.

“Future generations should have a birthright to harvest fish from the river,” a man said as the trailer ends.

You can watch the trailer for yourself and find screening locations at https://www.fishwarmovie.com/.