William Frank, Sr. (1879-1983) was a Nisqually elder, early tribal government official, and leader in the struggle for Indigenous fishing rights. His name at birth was Qu Lash Qud, and he was renamed Frank while at boarding school, after a white homesteader for whom his father worked. In 1917, the US Army took most of the Nisqually Reservation to expand Fort Lewis. In response, Frank moved his family to a site on the south bank of the Nisqually River, which became known as Frank's Landing. He also assisted tribal members left homeless by the land seizure. Frank was first arrested in 1916, probably for off-reservation fishing, and continued to work for Indigenous fishing rights throughout his life. In the 1930s, his efforts won a federal court injunction to protect Indigenous fishing on the Nisqually River. Later, his son William "Billy" Frank, Jr. joined him in this fight, which climaxed in the 1974 Boldt decision that ensured the rights of Indigenous peoples to fish off-reservation, as called for in treaties between Indigenous peoples and the United States.
Caption information source: "Bill Frank Sr., last of the Nisquallys," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 18, 1983, page C2. Caption information source: "End of an era," by Suzanne Hapala, Seattle Times, June 22, 1983, page C1.
