2016
Search results
Billy Frank Jr. (March 9, 1931 – May 5, 2014) was a Native American environmental leader and advocate of treaty rights. As a member of the Nisqually tribe, Frank led a grassroots campaign in the 1960s and 1970s to secure fishing rights on the Nisqually River, located in Washington state.
Learn about the life and legacy of Billy Frank Jr., who fought for the rights of Native Americans to fish in their ancestral lands and won the landmark Boldt decision in 1974. Explore his biography, awards, and book From Where the Salmon Run.
Mar 10, 2009 · Billy Frank Jr. served as chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) for most of its first 30 years. He committed his life to protecting his Nisqually people's traditional way of life and to protecting the endangered salmon whose survival is the focus of tribal life.
Decades ago, in a far different America, salmon wars erupted on Northwest rivers. Unknown tribal members held up Indian treaties and took a stand for fishing rights. One was a Nisqually Indian named Billy Frank. "I wasn't the Billy Frank that I am now," the Nisqually tribal leader told reporters in 1984. "I was a bitter person."
May 9, 2014 · Mr. Frank was transformed from an outlaw to a voice of wisdom and authority, a national figure recruited to serve on boards and commissions.
Nov 3, 2022 · On a dark night in 1945, 14-year-old Billy Frank, Jr., a citizen of the Nisqually tribe, walked down to the water’s edge on his family’s property, Frank’s Landing, on the Nisqually River to fish for salmon.
May 5, 2014 · Billy Frank Jr.’s decades-long battle with authorities over tribal rights to catch fish — beginning with his arrest at 14 in 1945 for filling his net with steelhead and chum — propelled him to...
