By Lester Black on March 9, 2022 in The Guardian.
An Indigenous nation is turning to a novel legal tactic in the hopes that it can save a beleaguered salmon population: it is suing on the salmon’s behalf, alleging that dams preventing it from migrating are a violation of the fish’s “inherent rights to exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve”.
The lawsuit is part of the growing “rights of nature” movement, a legal theory that seeks to give natural entities, like rivers or plants or animals, similar legal rights to humans.
The salmon, called TsuladxW in the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe’s Lushootseed language, are named plaintiffs in the case. The dammed rivers in Washington state no longer provide enough salmon for the tribe to conduct all of their ceremonies, let alone feed their members, and scientists have determined that nearby dams are hurting the salmon population.
The tribe is arguing that the dams are violating TsuladxW’s fourth amendment right to be free from illegal seizures and their due process rights…
Read the full article in The Guardian.
Photo credit:
“Salmon spawning” by Oregon State University is marked with CC BY-SA 2.0.