NESPELEM - The Colville Confederated Tribes has filed suit in federal court to defend tribal hunting rights in its North Half territory.
     “This case defends our members’ right to hunt on the North Half, free of illegal state regulation,” Colville Business Council Chairman Michael Finley said. “Tribal members hunting there should not be prosecuted under Washington’s firearms law for engaging in conduct that is both safe and allowed by tribal law.”
     The North Half is the area north of the present reservation and south of the Canadian border.
     Finley said the suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
     It concerns a citation issued to a tribal hunter in the North Half, a part of the Colville Indian Reservation as it was established in 1872.
     Although the tribe ceded the area to the U.S. in an 1891 agreement, members retained their rights to hunt and fish there, on public lands, free of state conservation laws, Finley said.
     “We don’t dispute the state’s authority to regulate tribal hunting on the North Half, when necessary to protect public safety,” Finley said. “But this is not the case here. A tribal hunter was cited by the state even though he posed no safety risk and was fully compliant with tribal law.”
     Finley said the hunter had a bullet in his gun’s magazine, but not in the chamber, as allowed by tribal regulations. He said the tribe’s hunting regulations are at least as strict, or stricter, than many other states’ firearms laws.
     “The enforcement of this Washington firearms law against Colville tribal members is unnecessary and contrary to federal court decisions on these matters,” Finley said.
     He said the courts have limited state authority to regulate tribal hunting outside reservations to situations where tribal regulations are inadequate to provide for conservation of game resources or to protect public safety.
     Tribal enforcement officers patrol the North Half to assure compliance with tribal laws, Finley said.
     The tribe has attempted to negotiate a solution to the issue, but the state was unwilling to resolve it, he said.