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Billy Frank Jr.'s Memories of Playing in the Mud of the Nisqually River Flats
By Billy Frank, Jr.
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Billy Frank, Jr. of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, has been Chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) for 22 years. In the 1960's and early 70's, Frank was a grass roots political activist who was frequently jailed for his role in civil disobedience, which involved taking part in numerous "fish-in's" in opposition to state authority over the tribes. Years of resistance finally paid off when federal court ruled in favor of the tribes in U.S. v. Washington, the "Boldt Decision" of 1974. The ruling, supported by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1979, reaffirmed the treaty-protected fishing rights of the tribes. Among other things, the ruling stated that the tribes have a right to catch up to 50 percent of the harvestable resource, and that the state and the tribes must manage the resource as co-managers.
Billy Frank, Jr.
When I was just a little guy, us Indian kids used to play in the mud when the tide was out at the mouth of the Nisqually River. We’d have a great time all day long having mud fights and sliding maybe 40 or 50 feet on the mud flats, one after another while our parents fished for flounder in nearby Red Creek. It was so much fun just playin’ in that good, clean mud. We’d get muddy from head to foot, laugh a lot, then swim in the river to clean ourselves off. I remember the time when the young men of the tribe were returning home from World War II and we took them down to the mud flats to celebrate to welcome them home. It was a great time for everybody. When the tide came back in we all got into our cedar canoes and paddled back to Frank’s Landing where we cooked the flounders our folks caught in a big ol’ pot over a fire. That fish was so good. It was a time when the canoes were still our major transportation. We could still gather lots of clams, Oregon grapes, huckleberries and medicines. There was no I-5 and not many buildings or cars.
It’s a different time now. Some of our kids still play in the mud, but the flounders are gone and it’s a lot harder to find our native plants and medicines because so many people have moved here. We still try to enjoy life, of course—but it’s a different time. Still, I’ll always remember those great times we had playin’ in that good clean mud on the Nisqually River flats.
It’s a different time now. Some of our kids still play in the mud, but the flounders are gone and it’s a lot harder to find our native plants and medicines because so many people have moved here. We still try to enjoy life, of course—but it’s a different time. Still, I’ll always remember those great times we had playin’ in that good clean mud on the Nisqually River flats.