Judge denies Southeast Alaska tribes' effort to dismiss Metlakatla fishing rights case

Judge denies Southeast Alaska tribes' effort to dismiss Metlakatla fishing rights case

Metlakatla Mayor Albert Smith exits the courtroom at the Robert Boochever U.S. Courthouse in Juneau, Alaska following oral arguments in a fishing rights case on Feb. 15, 2024. (Eric Stone/Alaska Public Media) A lawsuit from Alaska’s only Native reservation will proceed over the objections of other Southeast Alaska tribes. A federal judge last week declined a request from a coalition of tribes, including the largest in Southeast, to throw out Met…