Robert Satiacum facts for kids

Robert "Bob" Satiacum (1929–March 25, 1991) was a Puyallup tribal leader and an advocate of native treaty fishing rights in the United States. He was convicted in 1982 of attempted murder, embezzlement of tribal funds, and other charges but fled to Canada to avoid a prison term.

Early life

Satiacum was a 1947 graduate of Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, where he was a star athlete. His son, Robert Satiacum, Jr., was a faithless elector in 2016.

Fishing rights activism

He first came to the public attention in 1954, when he was arrested for illegally fishing in the Puyallup River in Tacoma, Washington. Satiacum was convicted, but the Washington State Supreme Court overturned the conviction. This led to years of legal wranglings over the issue, as well as to "fish-ins" by Satiacum and his cadre of celebrity supporters, most notably Marlon Brando, who was arrested while protesting with him on March 2, 1964; Satiacum would not be detained during the incident, but would be issued a summons to appear in court the following week.

This ultimately culminated in the historic Boldt Decision, which held that treaties signed with native tribes and the federal government in the 1850s entitled the tribes to fifty percent of the total fish harvest.

Satiacum was prominent the 1970 action at Seattle's Fort Lawton that resulted in the creation of United Indians of All Tribes and ultimately of the Daybreak Star Cultural Center.

Death

He died of a heart attack in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1991 while being held pending extradition to the U.S.

See also

• National Indian Youth Council