A model of a statue of the late Billy Frank Jr., the legendary Nisqually activist, was unveiled at the state Capitol in Olympia last week, set to become the first statue depicting a contemporary Native American in the National Statuary Hall in the nation's Capitol.
"The best of Washington is now headed to Washington, D.C.," Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday.
Frank, who died in 2014, was a member of the Nisqually Tribe and known for his activism surrounding the protection of salmon and Native American rights. The maquette, a preliminary clay model of the statue, captures his charming smile and Frank sitting on a river's edge as salmon leap from the water.
"Billy was the most welcoming person who, when he looked at you, you felt seen," Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Anacortes, who filed a bill two years ago that led to the creation of the statue, said in an interview.
By 2025, two 9-foot bronze statues of Frank created by artist Haiying Wu, who will be the first Chinese American to have his work featured in the National Statuary Hall, will be displayed to the public — one in the state Capitol, and one in the nation's Capitol.
"It truly is a blessing being here today," Willie Frank III, Frank's son, said last week. "My dad he's looking down on us and smiling at all of us."
Established in 1864, Statuary Hall features 100 statues, two from each state. The two statues currently representing Washington state are of missionaries Mother Joseph and Marcus Whitman.
In 2017, scrutiny arose around Whitman's role in the colonization of Indigenous land and displacement of Native Americans in the region.
In 2019, the state Legislature considered a bill to replace the Whitman statue, but it didn't pass. In 2021, the Legislature approved HB 1372, which Lekanoff sponsored, to replace the Whitman statue with one of Frank.
The statue is important in continuing to share Indigenous history, said Lekanoff, who is part Tlingit and Aleut. Looking back and seeing the resilience of her people has moved her to tears.
"Our hair was cut, our language ripped out of our mouth, our lands taken from us, stripped and cleaned of all the sources, our culture and language was beaten out of us," Lekanoff said. "These tables were set and they were never set for people like us. Our bloodlines were supposed to be depleted to no longer exist and we're still here."
Frank began his activism at an early age where he was arrested at just 14 years old for fishing in the Nisqually River. Throughout the course of his life, he was arrested more than 50 times advocating for his community and salmon habitats.
Salmon populations in the region have been in decline for decades, largely due to habitat loss and overharvest since white settlers' arrival to the region. State officials began to target and harass tribal fishermen, including Frank and his father, in the name of conservation, according to Willie Frank III. Frank responded by staging "fish-ins" protests fighting for Native rights to fish in their accustomed places, a right previously granted in the Treaty of Medicine Creek in 1854.
The 1974 Boldt decision established in United States v. Washington was a direct result of his activism. The decision reaffirmed treaty rights, which granted Northwest tribes the right to fish half of salmon populations. It was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where it was upheld.
Frank served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War and was also the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission for more than three decades. In 2015, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Barack Obama.
"I don't think I've ever worked with someone who was more committed to bringing people together," Inslee said of Frank. "It is that rare combination of strength to stand up against power and speak truth to power while also finding the best in each other so that we can work together to solve our distances."
