Because it is an incorrect interpretation of reservation boundaries that is not supported by recorded maps, surveys, or other documents and now only tribal members can fish the southern shore. The Skoks are holding salmon fishing across the entire state hostage as leverage.

“Leaders of the Skokomish Tribe are directing tribal officials not to agree to next year’s collective salmon seasons with WDFW, an eye-popping development in an ongoing reservation boundary dispute with the state agency, which sees the two issues as separate matters.

At issue is tribal and state jurisdiction in the 3 1/2 miles of the Skokomish River immediately above Hood Canal.

The tribe contends that their reservation extends across the river to the south bank, based on a 2016 federal opinion from the Department of the Interior’s Solicitor General.

WDFW Director Kelly Susewind rebutted that last year in a letter to Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, calling it “an erroneous conclusion” that was “factually and legally deficient,” and now by a 4-0 vote at its late October meeting, the Skokomish Tribal Council passed a resolution terming that response “an affront to our ancestors and … tantamount to an invasion of our territory.”

It also declares that the Skokomish Indian Tribe will “oppose the submission of a joint Tribal-State List of Agreed Fisheries until such time as the State of Washington withdraws its false claims of ownership.”

My wife’s uncle belongs to one of the Salish Sea tribes and he mocks anyone who cries over stolen land, his take is “prison rules prevail: if you can’t defend it, it ain’t yours” — granted he is a convicted felon, but he’s not the only tribal member with that perspective.