Attorney Tim Weaver, who fought for Yakama fishing rights, dies

YAKIMA — Longtime Yakama Nation attorney Tim Weaver left behind big shoes to fill, a tribal leader said Tuesday, a day after Mr. Weaver's death.

A champion of American Indian law who battled in court for Yakama fishing rights, Mr. Weaver died at home Monday (March 22). He was 65.

He will be remembered as an aggressive attorney who was an advocate for tribal-treaty fishing rights and who honored the Yakamas' way of life, said Yakama General Council Vice Chairwoman Mavis Kindness.

"Those who knew him, those that knew they could rely on him, are going to miss him," she said Tuesday. "It's going to be a big void. It's going to be tough for us to find someone who was as aggressive as he was and as assertive."

Mr. Weaver spent 40 years representing the tribe in state and federal courts — including two cases in the U.S. Supreme Court — over myriad issues, including fishing and water rights, zoning and development, and natural resources.

His son Tyler, also an attorney, said his father died peacefully and surrounded by family in his Yakima home.

Tyler Weaver said his father had cancer for nearly 18 years and for the past 15 months "was really fighting a battle to stay ahead."

He had prepared for his death by arranging for a special tribal ceremony on the Yakama reservation and writing his own death notice.

"It's a big loss for us, but we're holding on and we know he put up the toughest fight he could," Tyler Weaver said.

Some Yakama tribal leaders considered Mr. Weaver a warrior who respected the tribe's way of life. They point to a 1974 case he successfully argued all the way to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which for the first time affirmed the tribe's authority to enforce its own fishing laws outside reservation boundaries.

A ceremonial dinner was held for him at the Wapato Longhouse — a traditional church — after he retired in January.

"What he knew of our ways, our livelihood ... there were times he'd show up at our gatherings and he'd wear a vest and moccasins," Kindness said. "He showed respect."

Mr. Weaver grew up in Ellensburg and graduated from the University of Washington in 1967. He worked as a law clerk for Washington Supreme Court Justice Morrell Sharp after completing Willamette Law School in 1970.

He was also president of the Yakima County Bar Association.

"He was probably one of the giants of the Yakima County Bar Association," said Bob Tenney, the association's president. "Tim was a tremendous advocate and at the same time always full of grace and wit and a delight to work with."

Mr. Weaver's career got into full swing after he took a position at Jim Hovis' law firm, which specialized in Indian law. He later moved into his own practice and worked out of his downtown Yakima office.

Mr. Weaver touted a 2008 salmon accord between the Bonneville Power Administration and four Columbia River tribes, including the Yakama Nation, as his biggest accomplishments in recent years. The agreement committed federal agencies to dump some $900 million into fish-restoration and -protection efforts in the Columbia River basin.

Mr. Weaver's survivors include his wife, Gail Weaver, of Yakima; sons Tyler and Ryan Weaver; a brother, Jud Weaver; and four grandchildren.

The family is inviting the public to a tribal ceremony for Mr. Weaver at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Yakama Nation Winterlodge off Highway 97 in Toppenish, Yakima County. A celebration of life will follow at 11:30 a.m. at the Yakima Valley Museum. Arrangements are by Keith and Keith Funeral Home.