The Constitutional Right to Protest
The constitution in the bill of
lights particularly reserves the
right in the people to protest the
grievances (called therein “the
right of petition”) to the govern
ment of the United States .
In the following resolution hy the
Alaska Native Brotherhood, the na
lives exercise their constitutional
lights. Those who are acquainted
with the facts know that every
cause of protest therein named is
1 used on the truth.
The high points are (1) the prac
tice of the United States District
Attorney’s office, in joining with the
BUREAU OF FISHERIES in black
mailing fishermen to plead “guilty”
to charges of illegal fishing. “You
plead guilty, and pay a fine of $400.
or we will seize your boat” is the
way they put it. One man said, “I'll
s>f rve out my time.” The answer
was prompt: “No sir. You pay a
fine or it is no go.”
(2) The natives protest unjust
officers like Harry Pryde at Yakutat
and James Ross at Klawock.
(I>.) They protest areas excluded
to seiners but open to traps.
(4 ) They protest the Indian Island
traps saying that Icy Straits at this
point is really a fish stream.
(5) They denounce the 50% es
capement under the White Fish Law
as being unscientific.
A. N. B. PROTEST PRACTICES
Bl BEAU OF FISHERIES
The Natives of Alaska, thru the
Alaska Nat.vp Brotherhood conven
ed at Sitka. Alaska, representing
sixteen towns in southeastern Alas
ka, wishes to protest certain discri
minatory practices of the Bureau
of Fisheries:
1. Whenever charges are made
against our fishermen, the United
States At'craey usually makes the
proposition, you enter a plea of
guilty and pay a four hundred dol
lars line or we will seize your boat.
Considering (he shortness of the fish
ing season Hie length of time it
would take to release a boat seized
under the fisheries law even where
the charges were groundless (as in
Hie case of gasboats Kotor and Peer
Gvnt i to fight the charges only
means to incurr the heavier penalty
of losing the entire fishing season,
and so many cases have occured
where pleas of guilty have been en
tered and the penalties paid where
the parties were innocent.. We
contend that this procedure of Hie
1'r.ited States Attorney and the Bu
reau of Fisheries is nothing but of
ficial blackmail, and that it should
be investigi ted by the Attorney
Geneial of the United States, and i'.
true that the parties thereto should
be removed from office on the ground
that they have abused their offices,
fine cnief offender in this direction
seems to be head warden O’Connor.
2. ;'ne Alaska Native Brotherhood
have long charged that certain of the
employees of the Bureau of Fisher
ies enforce the law against the na
tives but shut tlieir eyes as to viola
tious of law by the large cannery
corporations. We believe investiga
tion will easily show that warden
Harry Pryde of the Yakutat district
should really be on the payroll of
the firm of Libby, McNeil and Libby,
as he is using all the power of the
Uni.ed States government to further
the special interests of that corpora
tion and against the natives of Yaku
tat, for example in the matter of
holding stake net sites on the rivers
around Yakutat. Harry Pryde should
not be allowed in the government
service unless he enforces the law
fairly and without favor.
3. I he Bureau of Fisheries seem to
have placed the dead line for fish
ing at points where the seiners and
gillnetters cannot catch any fish.
This compels our people to risk thei1’
lives and property because we main
tain that we are era itled to a living.
The United States government has
i o right to make regulations that
will deprive our people of their liv
ing. An example is Klawock Inlet
where tile dead line was placed so
tha* millions of salmon were wasted
bv permitting them to go up the
crook when the creek was already
overseeded a-id by not allowing the
s' oners to catch any of the fish. We
hold that tills practice of the Bu
reau of Fisheries encourages crime
and since that Bureau knows these
conditions the authority over them
should stop that practice.
4. The dead line at Karta Bay and
Scowl Arm, west side of Prince of
Wa;es Island have been established
without regard to the rights! of the
natives of Kasaan and greatly in
excess of the requirements of the
loasonable demands of conservation,
which reasonable requirements
we aid move the dead line back to
the old lino.
*■» The fis.'i add«r at Harris Creek,
in Twelve Mile Arm, on Prince of
Wales Island is entirely inadequate
ard unless the Bureau of Fisheries
see that this condition is corrected,
this important fish stream will be
destroyed, ’inis matter has been re
ported to the employees of the Bu
reau of Fisheries without apparent
result.
6 In many places, the Bureau of
Fisheries has created closed areas
and thus virtually stopped our sein
ers from fishing altogether for this
reason ou • equipment is such that
we cannot fish altogether except in
the calm waters of the large bays
of southeastern Alaska. When these
bays are closed we have no place
to fish. And yet the Bureau of
Fisheiies permits large traps to be
placed in nudi a position to the
closed bay that it becomes a special
privilege, it is the only device that
can fish the area tributary to the
protected bay. In this way traps
catch millions of fish from the very