Janet McCloud

Janet McCloud (also known as Yet-Si-Blue, March 30, 1934–November 25, 2003) was a prominent Native American and indigenous rights activist. Her activism helped lead to the 1974 Boldt Decision, for which she was dubbed, "the Rosa Parks of the American Indian Movement." She co-founded Women of All Red Nations (WARN) in 1974. The first convening of the Indigenous Women's Network was in her backyard in Yelm, Washington in August 1985.

Born on the Tulalip Reservation on March 30, 1934, Janet Renecker, the oldest of three girls and a descendant of Chief Seattle's family, lived a childhood marked by poverty and alcohol abuse.

Throughout her early years, she and her family moved often, from Tulalip to Taholah on the Quinault Reservation and, later, to Seattle's International District. Her stepfather drank and had trouble finding work.

She often took refuge in churches and foster homes, spending much of her formative years in the city—mainly out of touch with tribal customs and traditions.

"She thought taverns and drinking was the only way in life," Barbara McCloud, her daughter, said.

She married and divorced young before meeting a Nisqually tribal fisherman and electrical lineman named Don McCloud in the early 1950s. The couple soon married, and together would have eight children, six girls and two boys.

On Jan. 6, 1962, dozens of Washington State game wardens stormed a group of Indians fishing the Nisqually River, arresting five men, including some of McCloud's relatives, for illegal fishing.

"When the raid ended after more than eight hours of sorties in wet brush and on the muddy, swollen stream, five Indians had been arrested and charged with `operating set nets capable of taking game fish.'"

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