Treaties have been upheld in the U.S. Constitution as "the supreme law of the land". U.S. courts have repeatedly recognized Indian nations as sovereign and, consequently, treaties between Indian nations and the United States have the dignity as well as the full force and effect of any other international agreement. While many treaties over the past 200 years have reflected the declining power of the Indian, the treaties with the Pacific Northwest Indians were treaties of friendship and peace. They were not signed in defeat but instead reflected the Indians' willingness to accommodate to the needs of the newcomers. Tribes of this region gave up title to nine-tenths of the present State of Washington; in return they reserved certain lands for themselves, most of which were sites at river mouths where salmon return to spawn. The U.S. generally agreed to provide medical care and other services and to protect the tribes from outside governments and hostile whites. These treaties have not lost their potency with age. This document treats areas of specific concern to the Pacific Northwest Indians. It gives a history of the kinds of treaties and their legal basis, justifies the preservation of reservations, and discusses land use practices associated with logging, dams and pollution, fish resources, the Boldt decision, fishing rights, water rights, and self determination. (DS)