WHEREAS, In memory of what would have been Billy Frank Jr.'s 94th birthday, we honor a man whose steadfast beliefs and actions led to the reaffirmation of treaty rights across the land. Known as an architect of consensus solutions, he brought people together with genuine respect endeavoring to find resolution for the good of all people in order to protect and cultivate salmon and their natural surroundings; and

WHEREAS, Binding promises made by the United States acknowledged, through treaties, the rights of tribes to take fish "at all usual and accustomed stations," and "in common with the citizens of the territory" of Washington; and

WHEREAS, Frank's father, Willie, and his predecessors, lived in a time of abundance, with strong salmon runs and plentiful clams, oysters, geoducks, wild berries, and camas roots; and

WHEREAS, Born on March 9, 1931, to Willie Sr. and Angeline Frank, Frank Jr., a member of the Nisqually Tribe, was raised in the tradition of his ancestors, with stories of the land, the river, the salmon runs, and the art of preserving fish; and

WHEREAS, Frank grew up on six acres along the banks of the Nisqually River in Thurston County. Known as Frank's Landing, the property was purchased after the Nisqually people were driven from their reservation during the development of the Fort Lewis Army Base in 1917; and

WHEREAS, At the age of 14, Frank began what became a lifetime of advocacy, leadership, and statesmanship. In 1945, he protested his arrest by two game wardens, simply for fishing on the Nisqually River near his family's property. He would spend his lifetime challenging the state and nation to live up to its promises; and

WHEREAS, In 1952, at age 21, Frank fulfilled a dream to join the Marines, proudly serving in the Marine Corps for two years as an expert marksman; and

WHEREAS, Treaty rights were increasingly eroded during Frank's lifetime through commercial and recreational fishing by nontribal actors and unjust state regulations and aggressive policing of tribal fishing. This, combined with expansive growth, construction, property development, and pollution, further depleted the plentiful salmon and other natural resources that had traditionally sustained tribal people in Washington; and

WHEREAS, By the mid 1960's Frank's Landing was a focal point for the assertion of treaty rights and tribal sovereignty. Over the next decade, Washington State would raid, arrest, and campaign against the fishing rights of Pacific Northwest tribes; and

WHEREAS, Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Frank led historic "fish-ins," demonstrations, and acts of civil resistance with other tribal and nontribal leaders, insisting on the treaty rights guaranteed more than a century before. In defending his treaty rights Frank was arrested numerous times; and

WHEREAS, Growing public awareness of the unjust infringement upon tribal treaty fishing rights in Washington ultimately resulted in the historic litigation and decision issued in United States v. Washington, in which the Honorable George Boldt recognized tribal treaty fishing rights as the supreme law of the land; and

WHEREAS, Following the Boldt decision, initial, blatant disregard of the decision by state and local authorities and citizens resulted in hardship and anger directed at indigenous people. Frank led with humility and vision towards a better future; and

WHEREAS, Frank remained steadfast in his vision of thriving salmon in the Nisqually River, flourishing in the Salish Sea; he energized others to share his vision and urgency. He resisted bitterness and confronted injustice with consensus-building by bringing diverse groups of people with conflicting interests together in important negotiations including the Timber, Fish, and Wildlife Agreement and the Pacific Salmon Treaty; and

WHEREAS, For more than 30 years, Frank served as Chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, created in 1975 to support the natural resource comanagement activities of the 20 treaty Indian tribes in western Washington; and

WHEREAS, Over his lifetime Frank was honored with countless additional awards for his decades-long fight for justice and environmental preservation, including: The Common Cause Award for Human Rights Efforts, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism, the American Indian Distinguished Service Award, the Wallace Stegner Award, the Washington State Environmental Excellence Award, and the 2015 Washington State Medal of Merit. In 2015, President Barack Obama named Frank posthumously as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest official civilian honor; and

WHEREAS, Billy Frank Jr. died May 5, 2014, at the age of 83. Willie Frank III and his wife, Peggen, continue the work of both father and grandfather. A good life growing up at Frank's Landing instilled the dignity and respect that informed the principles and guidelines of their leadership. His family once said, "being with Billy is like floating on a steady, easy river. Billy's life is turbulent, but Billy is not. He's the happiest person I know. He's completely at peace with himself"; and

WHEREAS, A statue of Billy Frank Jr. will soon be unveiled at National Statuary Hall where his likeness will represent the great state of Washington in the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C.;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we reflect in gratitude on Billy Frank Jr., the man who worked tirelessly and collaboratively to protect tribal treaty rights, native traditions, and the natural resources they are based upon; and