Billy's Magic: Tribal leader's fierce fight for fishing rights is honored with a statue in Washington, DC

For its part, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife said Billy Frank Jr. has made it his life's mission to advocate for indigenous peoples and protect the fish, waterways, wildlife and lands of the Pacific Northwest.

“We share his commitment to advancing fish and wildlife conservation and continuing his legacy of protecting this state’s natural resources,” said WDFW Director Kelly Susewind.

Late summer on the Nisqually

On a late August day, the Nisqually river is the color of a deep emerald.

Underneath the 40-horsepower outboard motor of Willie Frank III's aluminum boat. the brackish water bubbles and spits out white foam behind it.

Wearing a Pala Braves tank top jersey with black and white eagle feathers on the side, Willie Frank III. He casts gill nets across stretches of river at specific locations, called sets, that have been passed down through his family for generations. Family members, including his older brother Tobin “Sugar” Frank, and friends helped each other lay the net. It is a delicate and practiced maneuver to avoid tipping out of the boat.

After Willie Frank III catches the first few king salmon, he screams and hollers.

Although he is always smiling and laughing on the water, salmon fishing is serious business for his family and tribe.

A day or two now

Now many of the fish that used to return to the Nisqually River are no longer arriving.

Willie Frank III and others say some of the challenges include: massive fishing activity at sea near Alaska, pollution, invasive predators, recreational anglers and climate change.

A member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe, Peggen Frank is the executive director of Salmon Defense and the wife of Willie Frank III. She is committed to protecting salmon, which she describes as an “amazing species.” (Source: Annie Warren / NWPB)

Peggen Frank is the executive director of the Olympia-based nonprofit Salmon Defense and the wife of Willie Frank III. She said Billy Frank Jr. paved a great path and that Native leaders must now continue to fight for salmon.

“Now that we have Billy in Statuary Hall and in our capital, we can really begin to make progress on the things and policies he has tried to influence over the last 30 years, such as riparian buffer systems along our streams and rivers. said Peggen Frank. “Just basic, fundamental things that would improve and protect our environment by using treaty rights, by listening to tribes, by accepting and implementing tribal solutions because we are the stewards of the land.”

She added to the list of challenges facing Washington salmon increased pressure from things like climate change, Dust from vehicle tiressalmon-eating sea lions, the state's growing population and the destruction of watersheds.

“So there are things we can do,” Peggen Frank said. “We can start to connect with our ecosystems… learn where your watershed connects to it… So we need to help our mother earth just as much as she helps us.”

Willie Frank III said Nisqually fishermen used to fish seven months of the year. That is no longer the case.

“W“There’s a generation that doesn’t even grow up and have the opportunity to fish,” said Willie Frank III. “And I’m very lucky. I feel like I’m kind of in the last generation of good fishing days, you know?”

As recently as the mid-2000s, it was common practice to catch one or two 1.5 by 1.2 meter deep boxes of fish every day. Now local fishermen say they were lucky to catch several fish at an open house on the Nisqually. Many of the fish caught come from the tribe's hatcheries, said Debbie Preston, communications director for the Nisqually Indian Tribe.

Don't sit still

Billy Frank Jr. doesn't sit still.

He died on May 5, 2014 at the age of 83, but will forever be represented in the picture National Statuary Hall with a smile.

“Well, it would have been easy to be bitter,” Nancy Shipentower said of the life of Billy Frank Jr. “It would have been easy to be hateful. But that doesn't get you anywhere. You always have to be positive. You always have to say, 'It's a good day.'” It's a good day.'”

The new statue of Billy Frank Jr., created by artist Haiying Wu, will be one of the few statues in the National Statuary Hall depicted with a smile. (Source: Annie Warren / NWPB)

One of Willie Frank III's fondest memories of his father is something very human – Billy Frank Jr.'s sweet tooth and weakness for salty meat.

“Bacon and eggs and, you know, sausage, Spam,” Willie Frank III said. “He loved spam and he always did it secretly. …And as he got older, for example, after he died, I had to go through all of his things, you know. Here I found candy bars hidden in his room…It was hard to tell my dad no to bacon and eggs.”

Billy Frank Jr.'s public legacy remains alive with the legacy of the Boldt decision and the upholding of fishing rights Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854.

He was awarded it posthumously Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2015.

His spirit is also alive, said Willie Frank III. in the laughter and camaraderie of fishermen on the emerald waters of the Nisqually River.

“My wife [Peggen Frank] I always get these, you know, Facebook flashbacks from 2007 and 2008 when we had a good fishing season and we caught three or four tons of fish in a day,” said Willie Frank III. “And it was always cool because my dad loved to see it. He loved watching the fish come in.”

The sun sets at Franks Landing, where Billy Frank Jr.'s descendants continue to fish as their ancestors have always done. (Image credit: Annie Warren / NWPB)