Inside Climate News: Rights of Salmon case filed by Sauk-Suiattle Tribal Nation

January 14, 2022

The Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe is suing Seattle on behalf of salmon in the Skagit River. They are utilizing rights of nature jurisprudence seeks to give entities in the natural world the same legal protections as human beings. Katie Surma, the author of this article, shares how this complaint is a response to the city of Seattle’s construction and operation of off-reservation hydroelectric dams on the Skagit River.

This case is the latest in a string of indigenous/tribal rights of nature lawsuits, most recently in Florida and with the Ojibwe White Earth band. To learn more about the history of the movement and the source of the complaint, please read here.