Statue Model of Nisqually Activist Billy Frank Jr. on Display at Terrell through May 3

A half-scale model—or maquette—of a statue of Nisqually activist Billy Frank Jr. is on display at Terrell Library through May 3, one stop of a statewide tour sponsored by ArtsWA and the Nisqually Indian Tribe. Washington State University’s Department of History, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, and WSU Libraries arranged for the maquette’s appearance in Pullman.

Frank’s final bronze statue will be part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, composed of statues donated by individual states to honor historically important figures. It will be installed this year in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and another statue will be housed at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia.

To mark the occasion, three tribal leaders will discuss Native fishing rights and fishing advocacy at 3 p.m. Friday, April 18, in the Terrell Library atrium. The event is free and open to all. Panelists are:

• Jeremy “JJ” Wilbur, Swinomish Tribe member and a generational fisherman. He serves on the Swinomish Tribal Senate.
• Nakia Williamson-Cloud, director of cultural resources for the Nez Perce Tribe. He gained much of his knowledge and education concerning the traditional Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) way of life from culture bearers over a lifetime. Williamson-Cloud has worked in cultural resource management for more than 20 years.
• Jon Eli Sirois (pronounced Sigh Eye), citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and member of the respective Okanagan, Methow, and Wenatchi Tribes. He served over 20 years in the Colville Tribes’ government as an elected representative and in departments that focused on tribal lands, cultural preservation and revitalization, economic development, renewable energy project development, policy development, and governance.

“We’re honored to partner with the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the governor’s office, and colleagues around the state to share Billy’s urgent story,” said ArtsWA Executive Director Karen Hanan. “Over the last year, Billy has visited everywhere from Bainbridge Island to Omak. We’re thrilled that his message of perseverance, collaboration, and environmental stewardship will now come to Pullman and Washington State University.”

WSU Assistant Professor of History Ryan Booth drove to Olympia March 31 to pick up the maquette for its Pullman stop. Booth, an Upper Skagit Tribe member, met Frank once in the early 2000s at Swinomish for a “First Salmon Ceremony.” It was an unforgettable experience, partly because Frank mentioned people in Booth’s home community who fought for treaty rights.

“When the statue made it into the van that day, it felt almost like carrying an honored loved one. It wasn’t the feeling of a funeral. It was more like an honoring or celebration,” Booth said. “He had a power to bring people together. He never made that work about himself. He may have convened people, but he was never the center of attention. I think that’s the beauty of this.”

“I am so pleased that we have Billy Frank Jr. in the Terrell Atrium, the very heart of the Pullman campus,” said WSU Libraries Interim Dean Trevor Bond. “His presence and advocacy have contributed to numerous events this month, including President Betsy Cantwell’s welcome reception, the Sherman and Mabel Smith Pettyjohn Lecture on Native American History, and the opening of the Native American Advisory Board meeting.”

Choosing a contemporary Washington hero

Rep. Debra Lekanoff introduced House Bill 1372 in early 2021 to replace the statue of pioneer missionary Marcus Whitman, erected in 1953 in National Statuary Hall, with “a more contemporary Washingtonian to further celebrate the state and the continuous contributions Washingtonians have made in the 20th and 21st centuries.”

According to the bill, “Billy Frank Jr. is a significant historical and civil rights figure who is worthy of recognition and inclusion” in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill in April of the same year.

Western Washington-based Chinese American sculptor Haiying Wu was chosen to design the Frank statue. Consulting with the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the Frank family, and the selection committee, Wu created a concept that places the treaty-rights activist at the edge of the Nisqually River with salmon leaping at his feet. The pedestal is inscribed with Frank’s common statement, “Tell Your Story,” along with his name.

Early last year, Wu sculpted the maquette, followed by the full-size clay model over the summer. Next steps are approval of the full-scale model by the Architect of the Capitol, reviewing bids by local foundries and choosing the finalist, and casting the clay into bronze.

“We are truly honored to have this opportunity to recognize my father, Billy Frank Jr., as one of our great leaders here in the state of Washington,” said Willie Frank III. “It shows the progress and the growth of our state to honor Billy Frank Jr., who was arrested more than 50 times for fishing.”

Renegade from the start

In 1945, Frank was arrested for the first time at 14 for fishing off reservation in his family’s traditional fishing area on the Nisqually River. The harrowing experience launched almost 55 years defending Native American treaty rights to fish on tribal ancestral lands and protecting the natural resources Native and non-Native people depend on.

Ninety-one years before that first arrest, members of the Puyallup, Nisqually, Steilacoom, and Squaxin Island tribes signed the Treaty of Medicine Creek with the U.S. government, ceding nearly all their lands, but keeping access to traditional hunting and fishing grounds.

Yet the government didn’t uphold the treaty. Tribal members who fished in their customary places, outside the reservations the tribes now occupied, faced arrests for violating state laws.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Frank helped organize “fish-ins” as protests during the Fish Wars, coordinated by Puget Sound tribes to demand the government recognize fishing rights granted by the Treaty of Medicine Creek.

As the issue drew national media attention, the government sued the state of Washington, ending in the 1974 “Boldt Decision” affirming the right of Washington treaty tribes to take up to half of the harvestable salmon in western Washington, reaffirming tribal treaty-reserved rights, and establishing the tribes as co-managers of the salmon resource.

Tribal leaders created the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission to give “the treaty tribes the capability of speaking with a single voice on fisheries management and conservation matters.” Frank was elected to represent Medicine Creek treaty tribes on the commission in 1977, serving until his death in 2014, mostly as chair.

Over a lifetime of activism for Washington treaty tribes, Frank received many awards, including the Washington State Environmental Excellence Award, Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, and Wallace Stegner Award. In 2015, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Frank the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“He was often called a renegade, but he never wavered,” said Willie Frank III. “He believed in the Treaty of Medicine Creek. He believed in the language of those treaties, the right to fish, hunt, and gather in all the usual and accustomed grounds and to protect the environment that keeps everything healthy.”

Frank’s son said he can’t think of a better time than right now to have the opportunity to help bring the state together and heal many wounds from the past and present.

“My father stood for partnership and community,” he said. “He always said you needed patience and love to create the future you wanted to see.”