Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation v. Anderson

ORDER GRANTING AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS’ § 1983 CLAIMS

EDWARD F. SHEA, District Judge.

The parties ask the Court to wrestle with an age-old issue: the struggle between two sovereigns asserting their respective rights to protect the safety and interests of those for whom they are responsible. The state of Washington1 asserts its right to enforce hunting laws against members of the Colville Indian Tribe (“Tribe”), who are hunting off the *1103reservation but on lands on which tribal members enjoy “in common” treaty-hunting rights.2 Although numerous appellate and…