A graphic illustration depicts a future Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship. (U.S. Navy)
(Tribune News Service) — Billy Frank Jr. was arrested over 50 times trying to preserve his and his tribe's treaty right to fish in their ancestral waters.
Now, the legendary Nisqually elder who was a central figure in the fight for tribal fishing rights and environmental protections in the Pacific Northwest will have a U.S. Navy ship named after him.
A future U.S. Navy Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship — TATS-11 — will be named the USNS Billy Frank Jr., officials announced this month.
"This is truly an honor for the Frank family, Wa-he-lut School and the Nisqually Nation," said Willie Frank III, son of Billy Frank Jr. and chair of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, in a statement.
Starting in 2019, the Navy began naming a new class of ships after prominent Native Americans or Native American tribes in honor of their contributions to the armed forces — American Indians and Alaska Natives serve in the U.S. military at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in the country. Frank served in the Marine Corps for two years.
The USNS Billy Frank Jr., the sixth ship in the class, is the first to be named after an individual.
"We have a chance to tell our story and educate a whole new audience about the Nisqually Tribe, Billy Frank Jr., and the 29 tribes in the state of Washington," said Willie Frank III.
Billy Frank Jr., Nisqually tribal chairman, circa 1983. (Ann Yow, The Seattle Times/TNS)
William "Billy" Frank Jr. was born in 1931 as a member of the Nisqually tribe in Washington, and he grew up fishing on his tribal land.
He began his long career as an activist in 1945 as a boy, when he was arrested for catching steelhead and chum with his net in the Nisqually River. Over the years, he would become the face of a defining civil rights movement in the Pacific Northwest.
After serving as a military policeman in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, Frank returned to Washington, where he continued to fight for the right to fish Chinook and other salmon in his tribe's historical waters.
Despite 19th century treaties guaranteeing Northwest tribes access to historical waters, commercial and sport fishing had led to a drop in stocks at local salmon fisheries. In response, state game agents began harassing and targeting tribal fishermen, including Frank and his father.
Over the years, Frank and others staged "fish-ins" at the Washington state Capitol, protesting the arrests and raids against Indigenous fishermen blamed for the decline.
That organizing culminated in a landmark decision in 1974, when U.S. District Judge George Boldt affirmed the tribes' right to half of the fish harvest — as well as the country's obligation to honor treaties. That ruling was extended to the harvest of shellfish in 1993.
"He'll stand with all the great Indian names of the past two centuries in the Pacific Northwest and across the nation," his longtime friend Hank Adams told The Seattle Times in 2014. "His is a name that will stand out in the future for all he's given to Indians and the world."
Frank would go on to serve as chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission for over three decades and receive numerous accolades. In the later half of his life, Frank turned his activism toward protecting forests and salmon streams from excessive timber harvest and development. He died in 2014 at age 83. A statue of Frank is set to be placed in the Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, a revered civic space where each state is represented by two figures deserving of national commemoration.
Navajo-class ships provide "ocean-going tug, salvage and rescue capabilities to support Fleet operations," according to U.S. Navy officials. They can tow other Navy vessels and have 6,000 square feet of deck space.
Other ships in the class have been named in honor of the Cherokee Nation, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan, the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
"My father served this beautiful country as a United States Marine. He was proud to serve his country," said Willie Frank III in a statement. "As Chairman of the Nisqually Tribe, we want to thank the United States Navy for recognizing and honoring our Nisqually veteran, father and uncle."
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